Naruto Effect
by kitsunescythe
Summary: Naruto is Commander Shepard and saving an alternate version of the galaxy from the Reapers alongside his friends and some familiar faces from the ME universe. Follows Mass Effect 1 storyline with quite a few changes. There will be aliens later in the story, but until then, humans are the only sapient race. Don't read if that bothers you. NaruHina. Rated M mostly for violence.
1. Prologue

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR MASS EFFECT.

Oh, only if I did. Mass Effect 3 would never have had such a lame original ending, the Synthesis choice would be nonexistent, and as for Naruto, he'd at least be dating Hinata by now. And those are just the beginning of the things I'd improve.

But I digress. On with the show!

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

A man with spiky blonde hair, ocean-blue eyes, three whiskerlike marks on each cheek, and wearing standard N7 armor stood gazing out the window at the beauty of space. He was waiting for Captain Jiraiya, his commanding officer, in the next room to finish speaking with Admiral Hackett and Councilor Udina.

Shifting his feet, the man sighed. "I wonder what they're talking about in there."

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

*In QEC Room*

"Well, what about Shepard?" asked the hologram of Councilor Udina as he and Admiral Hackett were speaking through the Quantum Entanglement Communicator (QEC). "Kurama-born, but no record of his family."

"Doesn't have one," Jiraiya replied. "He was raised on the streets. Learned to look out for himself."

"He proved himself during the Blitz. Held off enemy forces on the ground until reinforcements arrived. He's the only reason Uzushio is still standing," Hackett added.

"We can't question his courage," Udina replied.

"The galaxy needs a hero. And Shepard's the best we've got," Jiraiya said confidently.

Nodding, Udina simply said, "I'll make the call."

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

In another time, place, and dimension, mankind was the dominant force in their galaxy. The only known sapient species, humans spread across the galaxy and developed many different cultures in the short two thousand years since the discovery that enabled them to leave their home planet Kurama.

This discovery, found on the planet Shukaku and seemingly left behind by an ancient long-dead race, revealed startling new technologies, enabling travel to the furthest stars. The basis for this incredible technology was a force that controlled the very fabric of space and time.

They called it the greatest discovery in human history.

They call it...

MASS EFFECT


	2. Haraiso Puraimu

p13600d: You know, I didn't even think of that. Naruto's armor isn't ANBU-style, since I like Shepard's N7 armor (how it looks in ME2 and 3, that is). But other characters may get ANBU-looking armor. And guns and biotics will still be used, but Naruto's biotics will have something different.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR MASS EFFECT

If I did, Jiraiya would be back already (I miss Pervy Sage), and ME3 would have an epilogue that showed Anderson survived. Seriously, what's with these stories killing the old, father-figure-to-the-main-character guys?! I mean, I can see how Jiraiya's death served a purpose, and it's not really said whether or not Anderson actually died, but still. Jiraiya can come back now, and Anderson should get to go be with Kahlee Sanders now.

Just so everyone knows, I have a tendency to rant. And disclaimers bring out the rants. So I'll either attempt to make them funny or give other people an excuse to rant alongside me. As long as no one flames me (because seriously, if you disagree, at least explain your side rationally. Flaming just makes you look like an idiot), I don't really care.

Anyway, here's Chapter 2.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

*Aboard the SSV Konoha SR-1*

The blonde man tightened his black headband with the Alliance symbol around his head and adjusted his armor. (His armor's the same as Shepard's ME2 and ME3 armor). Giving himself one last look in the mirror, he walked out of the ship's restroom and made his way to his commander's quarters.

He knocked on the door and called out, "Captain Jiraiya?" No answer. The blonde man repeated himself, and still no answer. Shrugging, he opened the door and walked in only to find the room empty. He expected that, but it still frustrated him a bit.

"Why call me in here and then not be here?" the blonde asked aloud.

He then heard the ship's pilot announce that they were approaching the something-or-other relay, and he decided to head up to the bridge. He may not care to learn the relay names, figuring it was the pilot's job to know those and not his, but he still liked watching that moment when a ship hits a relay and is sent into FTL (faster than light) travel.

As he turned to leave, though, he noticed his personal file was open on Jiraiya's computer. Curious, since he never really got to see his own file as well as a bit peeved that his captain was irresponsible enough to leave his personal information open like this, the blonde walked over to the screen.

He saw his image, and next to it, he read:

NAME: Naruto Shepard

AGE: 25

RANK: Commander

CLASS: Vanguard*

*In addition to normal Vanguard training, assault rifle training and advanced biotic training (almost Adept Class).

PRESERVICE HISTORY: Kurama-born. He was an orphan raised on the streets of the great megatropolises covering Kurama. He escaped the life of petty crime and underworld gangs by enlisting with the Alliance military when he turned eighteen.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE: War Hero**.** Early in his military career, he found himself facing an overwhelming enemy force. He risked his own life to save his fellow soldiers and defeat the enemy despite the impossible odds. His bravery and heroism have earned him medals and recognition from the Alliance fleet. The War Hero almost single-handedly repelled an attack by slavers on Uzushio.

"…Huh. I expected more info than that," Naruto mumbled to himself. "But hey, at least they made me sound cool. 'Orphan who raised himself on the streets of our homeworld who then joined the military and became a badass hero.' Sounds good to me," he chuckled.

Still grinning, Naruto closed his file and continued his trip to the bridge. As he walked through the ship, the crew members he came across greeted him. He had stopped grinning before he left his CO's room, putting on his more serious commander look, so no one would look at him strangely for smiling like an idiot.

He made it to the bridge just as the pilot said, "Hitting the relay in… 3… 2… 1…"

The ship charged with energy from the mass relay, and blasted off light-years away.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

"Thrusters…check. Navigation…check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems are online. Drift is just under 1500 K," the pilot reported in a bored tone.

"1500 is good. Your captain will be pleased," said an armored man with brown eyes and orange hair that was spiky like Naruto's stated before turning to leave the bridge.

"Troublesome guy," the pilot grumbled when the man was out of earshot.

The black-haired man in the copilot's seat glanced sidelong at the pilot. "You call everyone troublesome, Nara. But what do you have against Yahiko?"

"You mean besides his understating my piloting skills?" Shikamaru Nara replied sarcastically. "Well, then I'd say it's because the guy gives me a bad feeling. From what I've observed, trouble follows Spectres, so I don't like having him onboard, Alenko."

"You're just being paranoid. The Council helped fund this project, so they have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment," Kaiden Alenko told him.

Shikamaru sighed. "Yeah, that's the official story. Doesn't mean that's all there is to it."

Naruto, who was standing behind them, put in, "Shika's right. Sending a Spectre on a shakedown run does seem kinda fishy."

"See, Kaiden? Even Naruto sees it," Shikamaru said with a hint of a smile.

Naruto nodded. "Yup." Then it dawned on him that he was just insulted. "Wait…Hey!"

Shikamaru chuckled. "Just kidding, Commander."

Naruto growled and glared at the pilot, but before he could respond, Jiraiya's voice came over the bridge intercom.

"Nara! Status report."

"Just cleared the mass relay, Captain," Shikamaru reported boredly. "Stealth systems are engaged, and everything looks good."

"Alright, good. Now I want you to find a comm buoy. Link us into the network and relay mission reports to Alliance brass before we reach Haraiso Puraimu," Jiraiya ordered.

"Aye, aye, Captain," Shikamaru drawled lazily. "Oh, and you better brace yourself, Captain. I think Yahiko is headed your way."

"He's already here, Lieutenant," Jiraiya replied curtly.

Shikamaru shook his head, mentally facepalming himself, and muttered, "Troublesome."

"Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm room for a debriefing," Jiraiya ordered before cutting the intercom link.

Shikamaru barely glanced over his shoulder at the blonde behind him. "You get all that, Naruto?"

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, I got that he sounds pissed. Now I get to deal with it. Way to go, Shika," he grumbled sarcastically as he turned and walked away from the bridge.

Shikamaru sighed as well. "Troublesome."

Kaiden hid a smirk. "Everything is, Shikamaru."

As Naruto got closer to the Galaxy Map on his way to the comm room, he heard Navigator Pressly arguing with Engineer Adams over the intercom by Pressly's station.

"I'm telling you, I just saw him! Marched by like he was on a mission," Pressly nearly shouted.

"He's a Spectre. They're always on a mission," Adams stated matter-of-factly, not quite seeing why Pressly was so worried.

"And we're getting dragged right along with him!" the navigator yelled back.

"Relax, Pressly. You're going to give yourself an ulcer," the engineer attempted to calm his friend once more before returning to his duties.

Naruto approached Pressly, and the navigator turned to salute him. "Congratulations, Commander. Looks like we had a smooth run. You heading down to see the captain?"

Naruto nodded. "I am, but I heard you arguing. Sounds like you don't trust our Spectre guest."

"Sorry, Commander," Pressly replied. "Just having a chat with Adams down in engineering. Didn't mean to cause any trouble." Then he added, "But you have to admit, something's odd about this mission. The whole crew feels it."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, tilting his head to the side. "You think the Alliance brass is holding out on us?"

Pressly scowled a little as he said, "If all we're supposed to do is test out the stealth systems, why is Captain Jiraiya in charge? And then there's Yahiko." Naruto raised an eyebrow, not quite understanding where Pressly was going with this, so the navigator elaborated. "Spectres are elite operatives. Top covert agents. Why send a Spectre on a shakedown run? It doesn't add up."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, you're right. It doesn't. But I'm gettin' the feeling there's more to your concern than the fact that he's a Spectre."

Pressly sighed. "Sorry, Commander. I try not to let it affect my attitude, but Yahiko comes from the Ame star system."

"You mean the one that fought with our home star system Biju several years ago?" Naruto asked.

As humans expanded across the galaxy, they developed many diverse cultures and governments. Those that took over the Ame star system formed a government and culture that was highly disciplined, utilitarian, and reclusive, meaning all citizens were expected to obey orders, serve a purpose (usually meaning serving a term in the military as well), and they closed themselves off from all other humans who were not of Ame. But because their system was neighboring Biju, the homeworld system, who felt Ame should still be under the homeworld's control, a dispute erupted over territory and Ame's independence.

And it became known as the Breakaway War, as it concluded with Ame seceding from the homeworld's control and signing a treaty with Biju as its equal.

"The very one. My grandfather fought in the Breakaway War. And consequently, no one in my family has a lot of trust for those who come from Ame," Pressly explained.

"I can understand that," Naruto replied. He knew it was hard to trust former enemies. "However, I don't want it to affect your job."

"Don't worry, Commander," Pressly reassured him. "I can put aside my feelings for the good of the mission."

"That's all I ask, Pressly," Naruto said with a smile. But then he asked in a more serious tone, "But what were you saying about Captain Jiraiya being in charge? Do you have a problem with him?" The question wasn't hostile; just curious. Naruto knew that even if Pressly hated Jiraiya, he'd still do his job without fail.

"No, sir!" Pressly answered. "I just can't figure out why he's here for a simple shakedown run. It seems like a waste of his time to have a decorated officer like Jiraiya on such a simple mission. I mean, if you took all the medals he's earned and melted them down, you could build a life-size statue of the man. So it makes no sense for him to be here."

Naruto couldn't help but agree. "I'll see if I can get some answers when I see him. And speaking of which, I should get over there," he told Pressly before continuing on his way to the comm room.

"Aye, Commander," Pressly said as Naruto walked away.

However, as the blonde got closer to the room, he overheard a young man named Corporal Jenkins discussing Spectres with the ship's medic, a busty, blonde woman named Tsunade.

"I grew up on Haraiso Puraimu, Doc. It's not the kind of place Spectres visit. There's something Yahiko isn't telling us about this mission," Jenkins insisted.

Tsunade sighed. "Corporal, I know the captain. He wouldn't take orders from a Spectre."

"Not his choice, Doc. Spectres don't answer to anyone. They can do whatever they want. Kill anyone who gets in their way," Jenkins told her dramatically.

Rubbing her temples to stave off the headache forming, Tsunade replied exasperated, "You've been watching too many spy vids, kid."

Jenkins then noticed Naruto was standing near them listening and said to him as he saluted, "What do you think, Commander? We won't be staying on Haraiso Puraimu too long, will we? I'm itching for some real action!"

"Oh, please tell me you're joking, Corporal. Your 'real action' just means more work for me when I have to patch you all up," Tsunade complained with a scowl.

Naruto chuckled at that. He'd spent more than his fair share of time in the infirmary, and Tsunade was usually the main person who fixed him up again. "All part of the job, Baa-chan," he said affectionately with a foxy grin.

A vein on Tsunade's forehead became more pronounced as her temper spiked. "NARUTO! Stop calling me that!" she yelled while shaking her fist at the whisker-faced man.

Naruto waved his hands in front of himself defensively and with a nervous smile he said, "Okay, okay. Geez," and Tsunade calmed down. Then he turned to Jenkins with a more serious look. "She's right, though, Jenkins. I like a good fight as much as the next guy, but we shouldn't go looking for trouble."

Jenkins sighed. "I understand, Commander. But this waiting's killing me. I've never been on a mission like this before. Not one with a Spectre on board!"

Naruto could sympathize with that; he was never one for patience either. But he knew just jumping into things could get people killed. "I know how you feel, Jenkins, but just treat this like any other assignment and don't get overexcited."

"Easy for you to say. You proved yourself during the Blitz. Everyone knows what you can do," Jenkins replied with a mixture of dejection and admiration for Naruto in his voice.

Naruto put his hand on Jenkins's shoulder and gave him a small smile. "Hey, I get you wanting to show your stuff, but your moment will come. Just don't do anything stupid to mess it up, okay?"

Jenkins returned the smile. "Don't worry, sir. I won't do anything to screw this up."

"Good," Naruto nodded and withdrew his hand. "Now I gotta go. The captain's waiting for me." And he turned and walked through the door to the comm room.

He saw the orange-haired man named Yahiko standing in the middle of the room, and Naruto took a moment to make a closer observation of the man as he made his way over to him. Yahiko's armor was a black mesh shirt underneath a vest that had ceramic plating across his chest, stomach, and back. His upper arms were bare, but on his forearms he wore armguards made of the same ceramic plating as his body armor. On his legs, Yahiko wore black pants with ceramic plate greaves, and black sandals were on his feet. (Think ANBU uniform with Mass Effect upgrades). His choice of weapons was similar to Naruto's as he wore a pistol on his hip and an assault rifle on his back like Naruto. The only difference was Yahiko had a tantou sword while Naruto had a shotgun.

Yahiko noted Naruto sizing him up and mentally smirked in approval. _"He may have what it takes after all," _he thought. Nodding to Naruto as the blonde stopped near him, he greeted him. "Shepard. I was hoping you'd get here first. It will give us a chance to talk."

Naruto glanced around. "Where's the captain? I thought he'd be here already."

"He was, but he said he needed to go take care of something first and that he'd be back in a minute," Yahiko explained with a shrug. "I didn't ask him for details."

Naruto nodded. "I see. Okay, so what do you wanna talk about?"

"I'm interested in this world we're going to—Haraiso Puraimu. I've heard it's quite beautiful, but I've never had a chance to visit it," Yahiko replied as he paced a little.

As Yahiko stopped in front of him, Naruto said, "Yeah, I heard it's a paradise."

"Yes…a paradise. Serene. Tranquil. Safe. Hardly a place for any kind of mission, even a shakedown run, wouldn't you say?" Yahiko asked, raising an eyebrow as he watched Naruto's reaction.

Naruto hesitated at the man's suspicious tone. "What are you getting at exactly?"

"Surely you must've noticed a few details of this mission seem odd, right?" Yahiko asked and after a half-second's hesitation, Naruto nodded. "What do you think it means?" the orange-haired man pressed further.

"Well, I'd say there was an ulterior motive for the mission," Naruto said slowly. Then he looked Yahiko in the eyes and asked, "Is there?"

Before Yahiko could answer, though, Jiraiya came up behind Naruto and stood next to the blonde. The big, white-haired man looked at Naruto and said, "I think it's about time we told the commander what's really going on."

Yahiko agreed and told Naruto, "You're right in your assumption. This mission is more than a simple shakedown run."

Naruto didn't say anything, but he motioned with his hand for them to continue.

Jiraiya complied. "We're making a covert pick-up on Haraiso Puraimu, which is why we needed the stealth systems operational."

"What are we picking up? And why didn't you tell me?" Naruto asked his captain. The question wasn't hostile or defensive, just inquisitive.

"This is all on a strict, need-to-know basis, Naruto," Jiraiya explained to his young subordinate. "A research team on Haraiso Puraimu unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation. It seems to be from the same unknown civilization whose technology we used to expand across the galaxy."

Naruto's face scrunched in confusion. "So?"

Jiraiya and Yahiko sweat-dropped.

_"He's a genius in a fight, but a complete idiot when it comes to history and technology," _Jiraiya thought with a mental sigh.

Yahiko decided to explain things to the dense commander. "The mass relays, the Citadel, our ship drives—it's all based on this ancient civilization's technology. Every time we've discovered one of these beacons, our technology has made massive steps forward."

Naruto gave an "Oh…" and Jiraiya continued where Yahiko left off. "Naruto, Haraiso Puraimu doesn't have the facilities to handle this, so we need to bring the beacon back to the Citadel for proper study."

"This discovery could affect every race in Council space, Commander, so this mission is important," Yahiko said.

"Okay, I get it," Naruto replied with a nod. "Just point it out, and I'll bring it back."

"Just a second, Shepard. The beacon's not the only reason I'm here," Yahiko said as he stepped a bit closer to Naruto.

Before Naruto could ask, Jiraiya explained, "Yahiko wants to see you in action, Commander. He's here to evaluate you."

"Evaluate me? For what?" Naruto crossed his arms and looked the orange-haired man up and down, feeling suspicious.

Yahiko smirked. "For the Spectres."

Naruto's eyes widened and Jiraiya said, "Naruto, as our people spread further and further across the galaxy, the Council feels it's necessary to have more operatives under their command. With so many uncharted planets and star systems as well as the pirates and slavers out there, the need for added security is growing."

"You held off an enemy assault during the Blitz single-handed. You showed not only courage but also incredible skill. That's why I put your name forward as a candidate for the Spectres," Yahiko told the blonde.

Naruto was shocked. He knew he was a skilled soldier, but Spectre material? He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and asked, "You really think I'd make a good Spectre?"

Jiraiya nodded and smiled proudly at the commander. Ever since Naruto came to be under Jiraiya's command, the captain started thinking of the young man almost like he was his own son, and seeing his almost adoptive son become a candidate for the Spectres filled him with pride.

"Your record speaks for itself, Naruto," Jiraiya told him with a soft smile. "Like it or not, you're considered a hero to anyone who's ever heard of the attack on Uzushio."

"But I need to see your skills for myself, Commander," Yahiko cut in. "Haraiso Puraimu will be the first of several missions together."

"You'll be in charge of the ground team, Naruto. Secure the beacon and get it onto the ship immediately. Yahiko will accompany you to observe the mission," Jiraiya ordered.

"Just give the word, Captain," Naruto answered with restrained eagerness to begin the mission.

The captain nodded. "We should be getting close to Haraiso—"

Shikamaru interrupted, however, sounding uncharacteristically urgent as he called over the intercom, "Captain! We've got a problem."

"What is it, Nara?"

"Transmission from Haraiso Puraimu, sir. You need to see this."

"Bring it up on screen," Jiraiya commanded as he stepped forward toward the large screen dominating the far side of the comm room. Naruto and Yahiko moved to either side of the captain as the vid began to play.

There was gunfire and explosions, and then a woman in pink and red armor ran up to the person holding the camera. She shoved the person to the ground, yelling for him to get down, and then she turned to fire at the unseen enemy. Suddenly, there was an explosion to her right that rocked the camera, obscuring everything for a moment. When the screen cleared, it was still too fuzzy to make out just what the woman and her comrades were fighting, but what was clear was that things weren't going well for her or her comrades. When the woman came fully into view again, she was down on the ground facing the camera.

"We are under attack!" she screamed. "Taking heavy casualties. I repeat: heavy casualties! We can't—"She was cut off by an explosion. "Argh!... –need evac! They came out of nowhere! We need—"

She was cut off as the camera was shaken again, and then it showed a man being killed, though it was unclear exactly how. It looked as though he was impaled through his back, but that was quickly disregarded as the camera showed the rest of the people still fighting. Suddenly, all of them froze, looking up into the sky with expressions of shock and horror. The camera moved to what they were seeing, and they caught a glimpse of some…thing that seemed to be five black fingers or tentacles coming from the sky. But before they could make it out, the camera was shaken again by another explosion. People fell. And then the image cut out completely, leaving only static.

"It goes dead after that, Captain. And there's no comm traffic at all," Shikamaru reported, sounding a bit unnerved underneath his normal bored tone. "Just nothing."

"Rewind and hold at 38.5," Jiraiya ordered.

The screen flashed images and went still on the weird thing with five black appendages. Had the situation not been so serious, Naruto would've laughed at the thing as it looked like a giant hand or spider coming from the sky like something one would see in a weird sci-fi vid. But even stilled, it was impossible to figure out what the thing was.

Yahiko showed no reaction, but inwardly he was concerned about the strange object and the unknown enemy that was killing their people on Haraiso Puraimu.

Jiraiya's frown deepened and he called for a status report.

"Seventeen minutes out, Captain, and no other Alliance ships in the area," Shikamaru responded instantly.

"Take us in fast and quiet, Nara," Jiraiya commanded and he looked at Yahiko. "I'm afraid things just got a lot more complicated."

The orange-haired man gave a nod as he looked back at the screen. "Our best chance to secure the beacon would be a small strike team. It's the best way to move quickly without drawing attention."

Naruto had to bite his tongue. _"I know the beacon's important, but what about all those people?! They're getting slaughtered, and all you care about is the beacon?!" _he mentally screamed in frustration and anger.

"Sounds good, Yahiko," Jiraiya replied. "Meet us in the cargo hold."

Yahiko nodded and headed out of the room. Jiraiya then turned to Naruto.

"Tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up, Commander. You're going in."

Naruto nodded and turned to leave as well, but Jiraiya stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Naruto looked at the captain with a raised eyebrow.

"I know what you're thinking, Naruto, but Yahiko's not being callous," Jiraiya told him, his voice soft. "He just knows you can't save everyone, and this mission takes priority." Naruto opened his mouth to argue, but Jiraiya cut him off. "I'm not saying don't help anyone. I'm just saying don't let it keep you from your objective. Understood?"

Naruto sighed. "Understood."

"Good. Now get moving." And Naruto jogged out of the room.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Haraiso – paradise, Eden

Puraimu – prime (kinda obvious)

And so ends Chapter 2. Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know your thoughts (not flames), and I would appreciate some help with deciding a few characters. I'm sure you've all noticed that I've removed the sapient aliens for this story (so no asari, krogan, turian, etc.). I did this not because I don't like the Mass Effect aliens (I do, very much. Tali and Garrus are my Shep's best buds), but because it hurts my brain too much to turn some of the Naruto characters into aliens, such as a quarian Hinata (I'd feel too bad about making her wear a helmet all the time anyway) or a turian anybody. So humans rule this galaxy, but are a bit different from each other depending on what places in the galaxy they settled in. And we'll still have our synthetic geth-buddies (although I don't know whether or not to call them geth. I know they won't be flashlight heads. Sorry if that disappoints you). So while some people from Mass Effect will stay, others are going to be replaced. And most of those people will be aliens.

So those of you who are okay with that, I ask you, who do you think would fit Wrex's place best? What about Liara? Give me your suggestions, and reasons for your choices would help my decisions.

And even if you don't have an opinion on the character choices, I'd still appreciate some reviews. No senseless flames, though. If you don't like the story to the point you just start throwing out insults like a monkey flinging its crap, then you obviously have no life to not only sit through a story you didn't like but to waste more time writing out insults. No one's forcing anyone to read this. You can close out if you don't like it. YOU HAVE THE POWER.

And flamers will meet their end at the hand of my scythe-wielding pet fox. Kit-chan is freakin' nuts and loves to eat the faces of moronic flamers. :)

'Til next time!


	3. The First Mission

Okay, first of all, I want to thank those of you reading my story even if you haven't reviewed it. And I would like to answer the few reviews I've received so far.

**DarkNaruto101**: "When people look at a Naruto cross with Mass Effect, they **expect**…" Expect? Why, oh why, in this world where so many complain about a lack of originality would anyone _expect_ anything? If people expect anything, then obviously it's been done before (or too much). Now, I'm not saying I'm the most original person in the world, nor am I trying to be 100% original with this story. If I was, then I wouldn't be writing a fanfiction. But this is my idea for my story which I'm writing for my amusement. The only reason I post it here is to possibly entertain anyone else who could read my story without being bothered by the absence of our ME alien buddies.

And speaking of aliens, allow me to amend/explain further. I never said there won't be any aliens at all besides the geth and Reapers. I understand that's how it sounded, and I apologize, but that's not what I meant. What I mean is, humans are the only _known_ sapient species and the _dominant_ race in the galaxy. So just because they haven't discovered other sapient races yet, doesn't mean they're not out there, and there will be reasons for that later. And the Rachni have been encountered and fought by this point in my story. Thing is, just like in Mass Effect, they weren't considered sapient until after Shepard spoke with the queen. So there will be aliens. Space wouldn't be space without them.

But as for chakra in space…no offense to anyone else who wrote and/or likes Naruto/Mass Effect crosses with that, but magic in space? Chakra in Naruto is basically magic power, and Mass Effect is fairly hard science fiction. So I don't know how anyone else may have explained Shadow Clones (and other Naruto abilities) scientifically, but I feel such explanations are beyond my capacity. Honestly, I'm pretty accepting of things that people make happen in fiction, but chakra/magic in space bothers me to see in the Mass Effect Universe. If this were Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy we were talking about, I could understand, but not Mass Effect. That's one of the reasons why I hate the Synthesis option at the end of ME3. That's unexplainable space magic if there ever was such a thing. A green beam of light that suddenly adds organic bits to synthetics and synthetic bits to organics…_how?!_ How does that even work?! They take all that time to explain just about everything else in Mass Effect, but with Synthesis, it's just "take it as it is." *sigh* So I can't do chakra in Mass Effect.

**MYK-ON**: I will! And thank you for wanting me to continue! ^_^ I've been a fan of both Naruto and Mass Effect for a long time, and I would really like to take this story through all 3 ME games. Might take me a few years, but I'll keep going. :D

That's it for the reviews. I hope all of you reading this will continue reading, but I'm not forcing anyone to. All I can say is, I have a plan for this story, and you're all welcome to hang along for the ride and see where I'm going with it. :)

And so, on with Chapter 3.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Mass Effect. Life just kinda sucks like that.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

The SSV Konoha SR-1 approached Haraiso Puraimu with its stealth systems engaged. As it flew close to the ground, Shikamaru noted the large piles of rubble and torn up earth, and made an off-hand comment on the amount of excavation to the captain.

Down in the cargo hold, Jiraiya addressed Naruto. "Go in heavy and head straight for the dig site, Commander. I don't think I need to tell you to take out anything standing in your way."

Naruto was about to ask about survivors, but Kaiden beat him to it. Jiraiya replied, "Helping survivors is a secondary objective. You must secure the beacon first."

"Approaching drop point one," Shikamaru drawled over the intercom before Naruto could argue.

Yahiko approached the group, and Jenkins asked if he was joining their team. Yahiko declined.

"I move faster on my own," was all he said as he checked his gun and ran out the cargo bay door.

"Yahiko's job is to scout ahead," Jiraiya told them. "And other than the status reports he gives you, I want radio silence."

"Right," Naruto nodded. "We got his back, sir. Believe it!" (I had to do it ^_^').

"Good. Now get going," Jiraiya ordered. "And good luck!"

The ship approached drop point two, and Naruto and his team moved out.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Once on the ground, the team drew their weapons—Naruto his assault rifle, Kaiden his pistol, and Jenkins his shotgun. They observed their surroundings as Yahiko informed them there were hostiles everywhere and thus they should keep their guard up. They saw smoke rising to the sky in the distance, and near them, they saw some strange little creatures floating just off the ground. As they began to make their way toward their objective, Kaiden asked about the creatures.

"What the heck are those?" he questioned nervously, aiming his pistol at them in case they were hostile.

"They're just gas bags," Jenkins answered matter-of-factly. "Don't worry. They're harmless."

Naruto's curiosity, however, was piqued, and he moved closer to one. The creature didn't really react, not out of fear, interest, or anything. Stretching out his hand, Naruto barely poked the gas bag with his finger, and…

BANG!

Naruto went flying backwards as Alenko and Jenkins stared at him wide-eyed. Kaiden moved to help his commander up while Jenkins, who was now over his surprise, was trying his best not to laugh.

_"So much for keeping our guard up,"_ Kaiden thought sarcastically as he pulled Naruto up.

"Ow!" Naruto groaned as he got to his feet. "What the heck was that?!"

Jenkins couldn't help it; he laughed at the poor blonde. "I said they were harmless, Commander. But I meant they wouldn't attack us. They explode when they're attacked…or poked."

"I can see that now," Naruto grumbled. Glaring at the other gas bags who had no reaction whatsoever to one of their own being blown up, he growled out, "Little bastards," before turning around and continuing on to the objective. Kaiden and Jenkins followed him, the corporal still quietly chuckling at his unfortunate commander.

His laughter soon died, however, as the three men came across a group of bodies. Burned bodies.

"Man…what happened here?" Naruto said quietly as they made their way slowly passed the corpses. Alenko and Jenkins had no answer, so they remained quiet. But their concern for the situation was growing, even more so for Jenkins. This was his home, after all. He didn't know if these burned bodies belonged to anyone he knew or not. But he brushed those thoughts aside for the moment. They had a mission to complete.

They continued at a jog up the hill until they came to a bend in the path, and Naruto crouched as he held up a closed fist, signaling the other two men to approach low and slow. They immediately obeyed and moved forward cautiously, Naruto in the lead. He stopped right where the path turned and scanned the way ahead. Seeing it clear, he motioned for Alenko and Jenkins to move ahead, which they did slowly, pausing after a few steps to observe the area to make sure it was safe to move forward. Jenkins, though, didn't stop as long as he should have, and he stepped out of cover at the wrong time.

Suddenly, several little machines that looked like floating flashlight-things came out from around the corner further up the path and opened fire on the unfortunate corporal, going right through the kinetic barriers of his armor like they were tissue paper. Jenkins screamed in agony as he was being shot and fell heavily to the ground.

"JENKINS!" Naruto shouted, and his biotic powers flared in his anger. Turning to the advancing robots, Naruto ran forward, gun blazing, and biotic energy surrounding his body. "YOU BASTARDS!"

The little robots were soon exploding all over as they were riddled with bullets or torn apart/thrown against rocks by biotics.

Kaiden was momentarily shocked by what happened, but once he saw Naruto seemed to be okay fighting alone, he made his way over to Jenkins body, hoping he wasn't too late to help him. Sadly, he was. Corporal Richard L. Jenkins was already dead.

Slamming the last machine into a rock with his biotics, Naruto turned back and ran over to Kaiden, who was crouched next to Jenkins's body. He could only watch as Lieutenant Alenko put his hand over his dead friend's eyes, closing them forever.

"Ripped right through his shields," Kaiden reported sadly. "He never stood a chance."

Naruto took a deep breath, trying to calm his own rage and sadness. He may not have been close to Jenkins, but losing a comrade, especially one under his command, always tore him up inside. But now was not the time to dwell on such feelings. They had a mission to complete, and a colony to save.

"Kaiden," he said, getting the lieutenant's attention, "I know it's hard, but we have to keep moving. We'll see that Jenkins gets a proper funeral after the missions complete." He hesitated a moment, then added, "I'm sorry."

Alenko sighed. "It's not your fault, Commander. And you're right, we need to keep moving."

"Yeah," Naruto said with a nod, his eyes hardening into a fierce glare. "Let's go kill these bastards."

With one last salute to their fallen comrade, the two men continued up the hill.

Once around the corner, they encountered more of the small, floating, homicidal robots as well as a few that looked like metallic humans walking on the ground, which the two men destroyed without prejudice. Naruto even managed to use a gas bag to kill a robot at one point, getting revenge on both at the same time. By moving cautiously and staying in cover, the two men managed to avoid the same fate as Jenkins, never letting the robots succeed in ambushing them.

After defeating the last bunch of robots at the top of the hill, Yahiko gave them another report over the radio. He'd found burned buildings, and a lot of bodies. He then informed the commander that he intended to check out his surroundings further and would meet him at the dig site. Naruto scowled at the fact that more people were dead, but moved on.

They came through some trees, and the path they were on widened considerably and sloped downward as it curved to the right. There were large rocks strewn all over, which would provide plenty of cover in the event of a fight. And this was proven true as they suddenly saw the woman in pink and red armor from the vid at the other end of the path running toward them and away from a group of the robots. Naruto and Kaiden hurried toward her, but she was still quite a distance away. All of a sudden, a shot from a robot hit near her feet, and the woman fell. She flipped over and fired her pistol at the enemy, destroying one of the floating flashlights, but froze at the horrifying sight that met her eyes.

The human-machines were holding some unfortunate man over a strange apparatus. The poor man only had enough time to look at his captors with fear and confusion before a giant spike erupted from the apparatus, impaling the man through his back and out his stomach, killing him instantly.

Gasping, her eyes wide, the woman turned back and pushed herself off the ground. She sprinted past Naruto and Kaiden, who opened fire on the machines. The woman crouched low behind one of the rocks as she tried to catch her breath, and she watched the two men fight the machines. The black-haired man was tearing through their numbers with well-placed shots to their metal heads while the blonde man was just tearing through the machines—literally—with his biotics. The few who got too close met the business-end of the blonde man's shotgun.

Blasting one last robot in the face—and blowing its head clean off its metal shoulders—the blonde turned back to the woman and held out a hand to her. "Are you alright?" he asked as he pulled her to her feet.

She looked at him through the visor of her helmet with tired, green eyes and replied, "Yeah, I think so. Thank you."

"What were those things?" Kaiden asked, glancing at her before turning his gaze back to where the woman had run from.

"Yeah, and who are you?" Naruto added still facing her.

"I'm Gunnery Chief Sakura Haruno," the woman stated. "Well, that's my rank anyway. As good as I am with weapons, I'm even better as a medic. I'm a bit unorthodox as a soldier."

"Even still, a good medic is handy to have around," Kaiden replied.

Sakura nodded. "I've always thought so. But anyway," she began, "as for what those things were, I think they're dorei."

Naruto, being the oh-so-excellent student that he was, didn't have a clue as to what she was talking about. But Lieutenant Alenko did.

"The dorei haven't been outside their region of space since they chased off the Hyuuga over three hundred years ago!" the black-haired man protested.

"Well, then you explain what these humanlike machines are!" Sakura yelled at him. Her naturally short-temper plus the stress of the day were leaving her in no mood to be argued with.

Naruto interceded, tired of not knowing what these "dorei" were. "What are you guys talking about? What's a dorei?"

Sakura looked at the blonde like he'd grown a second head. "What do you mean 'what are they'? Didn't you ever learn history?" She sighed, not waiting for an answer and ignoring Naruto's glare. "The hito no dorei is a machine race built by the Hyuuga. They were originally just machines built to be servants, but eventually they rebelled and chased the Hyuuga out of their star system."

"They've never been seen outside that region of space, so it's odd that they're showing up here," Kaiden added.

"Well, whatever they are," Naruto began with a shrug, "they obviously aren't here to be friends. And I'd say we send 'em back to where they came from." He moved to continue on, but Haruno stopped them.

"Just a minute, sir," she said and the blonde man looked back with an eyebrow raised. "Who are you guys?"

Naruto and Kaiden looked at each other for a moment and sweat-dropped.

"Right, sorry," Naruto replied, and he pointed a thumb at his black-haired friend. "This is Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko," then he pointed at himself, "and I'm Commander Naruto Shepard."

Sakura saluted her superiors. "Permission to join you, Commander Shepard?"

Naruto looked her up and down. "Are you sure you're fit to continue?"

"Yes, sir!" Sakura declared with a nod. "And I have to pay these bastards back. They ambushed me and my whole squad. I'm…I'm the only one who survived," she grew quieter at the end and looked down at the ground.

The whisker-faced man put a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her sympathetically when she looked up at him. "Hey, it's okay. It wasn't your fault. And we'll avenge them."

Sakura just nodded and drew her assault rifle. Naruto then said, "Alright! Move out!"

The trio jogged down the hill, moving among the rocks to stay in cover. As they got closer to the dig site, they were attacked by more dorei, which they dispatched easily. Naruto, though, was restraining himself from using his biotics. He was starting to feel the strain of using his powers from his earlier fit of rage when Jenkins died and from defending Sakura, so he knew he had to give himself time to cool down as they didn't know what yet may be waiting for them up ahead.

_"Although while shooting stuff is fun," _Naruto thought as he watched Sakura gun down the last dorei by the dig site, _"it's not nearly as fun as throwing stuff around biotically."_

He shrugged off the thought as they moved into the dig site. There were large rocks everywhere surrounding large metal pillars, and in the center of the site was a large, metal circle that was raised in the center and looked like it was meant to hold something. Most likely the beacon, which wasn't there.

"This is the dig site, right?" Naruto asked, turning to Sakura.

"Yeah, the beacon was right here, but it must have been moved," she told him.

"By who? Our side, or the dorei?" Kaiden questioned.

"How should I know?" Sakura snapped annoyed. Sighing to calm her nerves, she suggested, "Maybe we'll learn more at the research camp."

Naruto looked around. "You think anyone got out of here alive?"

"I hope so," Sakura said sadly. "If they did, then I think they'd be hiding at the camp. We just have to go up these ramps to the top of the ridge, and we'll be there."

Nodding, the commander motioned for them to continue on. As they started walking, Yahiko's voice came over the radio again.

"Change of plans, Shepard. I'm going to check out a small spaceport up ahead," the Spectre told him. "We'll rendezvous there."

The trio continued up the ridge until they came to a small building at the top. There was another similar building beyond that, a lot of debris and fire in front of both buildings, and more of those strange apparatuses with the spikes…and these had people impaled on them too.

As the team of three stared horrified at the scene before them, the spikes began to slide back down into their apparatuses, pushing off the impaled people. However, rather than fall to the ground, the people immediately stood on their feet and gave out a guttural yell before rushing at Naruto, Sakura, and Kaiden.

The three of them began shooting without hesitation.

Naruto blew the head off of one with his shotgun while Kaiden biotically pushed two others away before shooting them once they were down. Sakura just pumped the remainder full of bullets, nearly overheating her gun in her panic. The last one got past her spray of ammo, though, but luckily, Naruto saw it and tore the monster in half with his biotics.

Breathing heavily, Sakura thanked him, and he asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Commander. Sorry. Seeing those things just freaked me out. It won't happen again," Sakura told him as she managed to calm herself down.

Naruto just nodded, and Kaiden moved over to one of the dead creatures and asked, "What are these things? What did the dorei do to them?"

Naruto stood next to him and examined the thing for himself. He could see the former human's skin was now a grayish-blue and it was so wasted away that it was impossible to tell if the person had once been male or female. Also, there were tubes and cybernetic bits coming out of them, glowing with blue lights. The blonde commander had noted as these creatures were charging at them that their eyes had been replaced by these blue lights, making them look all the more disturbing.

Now in control of her emotions, the medic was examining the creature as well. "It's like they took out the organs, converted the water in the body and its skin into cybernetic materials, and the blood's been turned into this nasty green fluid."

"Ugh," Naruto gagged, moving away from the body. "So they turned them into robot zombies?! What the heck for?!"

"Well, we won't get answers standing around here," the lieutenant stated calmly. "We should keep moving, Commander."

Composing himself, the blonde replied, "You're right, but let's check these buildings real quick for survivors."

They found a researcher and her assistant. The researcher was apparently the one in charge of the excavation, and they asked her about the beacon's location. She told them it had been moved to the spaceport and that she and her assistant had stayed behind to pack up the camp. And that's when the attack came. She told Naruto and his team that the soldiers protecting the camp had given their lives to keep them safe, and she and her assistant had then locked themselves in the building.

However, at the mention of being saved, the woman's assistant started muttering, "No one is saved. The age of humanity is ended. Soon, only ruin and corpses will remain."

Ignoring him, the commander asked for more information about the attack. There wasn't much to tell; the dorei swarmed the camp before anyone knew what was happening, soldiers died, and the researcher locked herself and her assistant in the building.

Hearing about the dorei, though, the assistant said, "Agents of the destroyers. Bringers of darkness. Heralds of our extinction."

Naruto's brow furrowed in confusion and concern at the man's state of mind. But the woman continued on as if she hadn't heard her assistant, and told Naruto that they just heard gunfire, screams, and then silence before his team came along. The commander then asked her whether or not they'd seen the orange-haired Spectre in the area. She said she hadn't, but the assistant…

"I saw him. The prophet. Leader of the enemy. He was here, before the attack," he told them.

"That's impossible," Kaiden refuted. "Yahiko was with us on the Konoha before the attack. He couldn't have been here."

"I'm sorry. Manuel's a bit…unsettled," the researcher said hesitantly. "We haven't seen this orange-haired man you're looking for. We've been hiding here since the attack."

Naruto decided to shrug the assistant's weird behavior off, but then he made the mistake of asking about the beacon.

"It's some type of data module from a galaxy-wide communications network. Remarkably well-preserved. It could be the greatest scientific discovery of our lifetime!" the researcher gushed.

_"Booooring!" _Naruto thought as he resisted rolling his eyes.

"Miraculous new technologies. Groundbreaking…" Naruto stopped listening.

Until the assistant chimed in again with, "We have unearthed the heart of evil. Awakened the beast. Unleashed the darkness."

_"This guy's a freak,"_ Naruto thought, and unable to ignore the man's strangeness anymore, he asked, "What's wrong with your assistant? Why's he being so creepy?"

"Commander!" Sakura whispered harshly, appalled by Naruto's rudeness.

He ignored her, and the researcher replied, "Well, Manuel has a brilliant mind, but he's always been a bit…unstable. Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin."

"Is it madness to see the future? To see the destruction rushing towards us? To understand there is no escape? No hope? No, I am not mad. I'm the only sane one left!" the assistant rambled.

The guy was really starting to freak Naruto out, and he was contemplating just knocking the man unconscious. The researcher told him she'd given her assistant an extra dose of his meds after the attack, but the man then started going on about how he couldn't be silenced and must be heard. He started moving toward Naruto, and the blonde commander couldn't take it anymore. With one punch to the face, the crazy man was out. The researcher was shocked, and Sakura yelled at Naruto for striking the man.

However, Naruto argued, "Hey, he was getting out of control. We can't risk any of our own turning on us."

The two women couldn't disagree, but Kaiden had to say, "Still that might've been a little extreme, Commander."

"Yeah, yeah. Dude is frickin' crazy. I'm not takin' any chances," Naruto retorted. Then he turned to Sakura. "Take us to the spaceport, Haruno," he ordered.

She nodded, and they moved out, leaving the researcher to take care of her unconscious, insane assistant. They followed the path out of the camp leading to the spaceport.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Yahiko moved toward the spaceport docks swiftly while keeping low to the ground. He crouched behind a crate, holding his assault rifle ready as he prepared to attack the man just ahead. Jumping quickly out of cover, the Spectre took aim and suddenly stopped.

"Nagato?" he asked as he recognized the man.

The other man turned around. He had chin-length red hair that was parted on one side and dark purple eyes that briefly had a blue glow in them. He was wearing armor similar to Yahiko's, but while the ceramic plates on Yahiko's armor were red and black, Nagato's were silver. His pants were also white. And if one looked closely, they could see small tubes going in and out of Nagato's body in places. But the orange-haired Spectre failed to notice that small detail.

"Yahiko," Nagato greeted in a neutral tone.

"What are you doing here, Nagato?" Yahiko asked as he lowered his weapon. "This isn't your mission."

Nagato walked over to his orange-haired friend and said as he put his hand on Yahiko's shoulder, "The Council thought you could use some help, so here I am."

He slipped his hand off Yahiko's shoulder as he stepped past him. Yahiko, feeling relieved to have the help of another Spectre especially his friend, didn't turn around as Nagato moved behind him. He just looked ahead at the spaceport and said, "I didn't expect the dorei to show up here. This is bad."

"Don't worry," Nagato reassured him as he drew his pistol and aimed it at the back of his unsuspecting friend's head. "I've got everything under control."

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

As Naruto, Sakura, and Kaiden walked up the hill overlooking the spaceport docks, they heard a gunshot echo through the still air. Under the circumstances, such a thing wouldn't even have been noticed other than to put them on guard against a potential enemy. But there was something about it that filled the blonde commander with dread.

_"I've got a bad feeling about this,"_ he thought. _"Very bad."_

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Just a note: Nagato's eyes were never shown without the Rinnegan, so I'm just making up the color. I don't know that I'll put the Rinnegan in this story, since I'm unsure of how to explain it scientifically. I've got explanations for the Byakugan and Sharingan worked out (they won't be exactly like in Naruto, though), but the Rinnegan boggles me honestly. It's abilities in the Narutoverse don't even make much sense to me because I don't know what gravity control, absorbing ninjutsu, summoning animals, and all that other crap he does has anything to do with his eyes. How are any of those abilities coming from his eyes? Kishi got a bit weird with that one in my opinion. But if anyone can give me a scientific, non-space magic explanation for the Rinnegan, then I'll put it in the story and give credit to the creative individual who can explain that. Heck, I'll give you a thank-you if you can explain to me how any of Nagato's abilities come from his eyes.

Translation time:

Dorei 奴隷 means "servant" or "slave"

Hito 人 means "people"

Hito no dorei 人の奴隷 means "slave of people"

Basically, I was trying to go for "servant of the people," which is what "geth" means in Khelish in Mass Effect. But I'll be keeping the shortened name of dorei for the most part.

In case anyone's wondering, I get my translations from Google translate and Romaji Desu dot com. I check each translation with both, but if I've gotten something wrong, well, I blame them.

And just to clarify something:

How I define "flaming": Reviews that just say "you're stupid" and/or throwing out various expletives at the author. Basically, attacking the author personally just because you didn't like the story. If you don't like the story, that's absolutely fine. But attacking me personally because of it is not. And if you don't like my story, then I don't want to know. I have better things to do than be criticized negatively or have my ideas frowned on. I'll take some constructive criticism, and I like discussing (not arguing) things with people, but i don't want to hear how my story "fails" or anything like that. If you like my story, I ask you for reviews, though. And here are some cookies for your kind words. *gives cookies*

Just please abide by the old adage, "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything." Besides the fact that I don't enjoy being depressed, I also think it's a waste of time to review a story you don't like. It's much easier and faster just to go find another story.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed Chapter 3! Next chapter will be the conclusion of the Haraiso Puraimu mission and then we'll most likely get to the Citadel, where I'll explain how the all-human government works.

Until then!


	4. Mission Concluded and On to the Citadel

**MYK-ON**: Thank you! And I agree. As I've said before, if no one likes this story, they don't have to read it. I'll never understand why people even bother saying that they don't like a story if they just absolutely can't stand it, especially when they just flame at the author. When I find a story I don't like, I just drop it and move onto something else. But I will finish any story I start, even if no one's reading them anymore. I'd be a hypocrite otherwise; the amount of dead stories I've found makes me sad, and I refuse to be one of those authors who let their stories die. Glad you're enjoying the story. ^_^ Encouraging reviews like yours help me write faster!

**Kedo**: I get what you're saying, but I'm defining "magic" as all that stuff that happens without explanation. For example, if you think about it, chakra could basically be the biotics of Naruto. But without being able to scientifically explain things like Shadow Clones, being able to transform one's appearance to look like someone else (as a solid transformation, not a projection), and all that other stuff, then it's magic. Advanced technology can be explained. Magic—at least how I define it—cannot.

**Haruchai**: First of all, yes, I for one would bother with Naruto even in the absence of chakra. Are you really saying that the only reason you read a story/watch an anime is for the flashy superpowers? Seems like a rather shallow way to look at something. To me, the story of Naruto is intriguing because it's about a guy who was really screwed over from the very beginning of his life, and despite all that, he kept going, kept trying, and eventually made his life better and gained friends worth fighting for. That is why I like the story. Not the Shadow Clones. Not the Rasengan. Not the chakra. I read it for the characters.

And I've already said there would be aliens. Just not right away. I pose you this question: Do you really think in all the universe, with all the possibilities out there, that it could never happen that one species could manage to dominate its entire galaxy? Did such a thing _not _happen in Mass Effect? *cough* Protheans *cough, cough* Leviathan *cough*

I said I have a plan. You don't want to stick around to see it, that's fine.

**p13600d**: Glad you're liking the story! ^_^ Hope you like the plans I have for all this in the future too.

Yeah, I considered keeping Jenkins alive, but I wasn't sure what to do with him if he did. Mass Effect and Naruto both have a crap-ton of characters, and even if I'm replacing some of the former with the latter, that's still a lot of characters to keep track of at times. And Jenkins is pretty minor, so I just really don't know what I'd do with him. But your comment gave me a funny idea: A Mass Effect fanfic where Jenkins manages to survive and takes on a huge role in fighting the Reapers. I just think that'd be funny to see.

I'm glad you like my choice of making Sakura take Ashley's place. I wanted her in the story early on, and she just seemed to fit there. Honestly, though, I'm not quite happy about her rank as Gunnery Chief, but I'm not good with ranks so I let it stay the same.

Yes, Nagato's a "bad guy". I'm sorry. But hopefully without giving too much away (not that anyone who's played Mass Effect wouldn't know this anyway), I ask you, what was it that made Saren a bad guy? Yes, he was a horrible person before the Reapers, but after, what was it that made him do the things he did? That's pretty much Nagato's main problem here too.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Mass Effect. Now excuse me while I go cry in a corner about it.

Anyway, on with Chapter 4!

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"What is that?!" Kaiden shouted as he, Naruto, and Sakura stood atop the hill overlooking the spaceport docks, staring in awe at a massive black structure in the distance beyond the spaceport. It was larger than any of the buildings and looked like a strange cross between a squid and some sort of insect.

As it began lifting off the surface of the planet, Sakura said fearfully, "It's some kind of ship! Look at the size of it!"

"But what—"

Naruto was cut off when a couple bullets connected with his barriers, and the team scrambled for cover as they prepared to fight another wave of dorei. However, they soon discovered that dorei wasn't all that was attacking them as the robot zombies—now deemed "husks" by the team—rushed at them, flailing their arms around and yelling incoherently.

Naruto and the others opened fire on the charging husks first before focusing on the dorei who were fighting long-range, and thus no one noticed the husk coming flanking them from the left. It ran up to Naruto and grabbed at him while discharging electricity in a shockwave around its body, disrupting the commander's shields and leaving him vulnerable to the dorei. The homicidal robots didn't miss a beat and targeted the blonde man while his shields were down. He took a round in the shoulder and stomach before Kaiden could kill the husk and push the commander into cover, and while Sakura checked Naruto's wounds, the lieutenant held off the dorei.

"Sakura, I'm fine," Naruto insisted when the medic pushed him back down when he tried to get back up.

"No, you're not, Commander! You've been hit twice, and I need to check your wounds," Sakura argued sternly as she scanned his injuries with her omni-tool. Determining that they weren't serious, she also noted with surprise that they were already beginning to heal—and without any medi-gel. Deciding now wasn't the time to ask, she slapped some medi-gel on the wounds to prevent infection and help them heal faster, and then she stood back up to help Kaiden dispatch the remaining enemies.

Once the way was clear, the team continued on toward the spaceport. Down the hill, up the platform stairs, and right over to yet another sight that stopped them cold: Yahiko lying on his back in a pool of blood.

Naruto put his gun away and knelt down next to the orange-haired man. Sakura and Kaiden followed suit, and while they were all reasonably sure of Yahiko's condition, the medic checked him anyway. Her omni-tool then confirmed their suspicions. A single gunshot wound to the back of the head killed Yahiko.

The blonde commander gritted his teeth in anger at losing yet another person on this mission as well as to this mysterious new enemy. Sure, he knew Yahiko even less than he had known Jenkins, but that wasn't the problem. The problem for Naruto was the sheer amount of senseless death that had occurred on this colony because of the dorei and whatever sick goal they were trying to accomplish. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to get back to ripping off some robot heads and was about to order his team to move out again when they heard a noise behind them.

"Something's moving behind those crates!" Sakura yelled as the three of them drew their weapons and aimed them at the boxes in question.

"Wait! Don't shoot! I'm just a dockworker!" a scruffy-looking man shouted frantically as he popped up from behind the nearest crate with his hands in the air. Naruto could see from the man's uniform that he was in fact a dockworker, but considering the situation, the commander wasn't going to just trust the man right away.

"You nearly got yourself killed sneaking up on us like that," Naruto told him.

"I…I'm sorry. I was hiding. From those creatures," the man explained. He lowered his hands as Naruto and his team put away their weapons. The man then continued, "My name's Powell. I saw what happened to that guy," he gestured to Yahiko's body. "The other guy shot him."

"Other guy?" Naruto questioned with a raised eyebrow. "What other guy? Please tell me what happened."

Powell took a deep breath. "The other guy got here first. He was waiting when your friend showed up. He called him Nagato. I think they knew each other." Pausing for a second, Powell went on to tell them, "Your friend seemed to relax. He let his guard down…and Nagato killed him. Shot him right in the back. I'm just lucky he didn't see me behind the crates."

Naruto digested this information with a nod. His anger was provoked further by the fact that this Nagato guy could shoot his friend in the back, but the blonde man wasn't a commander for nothing—he knew he had to keep himself in check and complete his mission. So he asked Powell about the beacon.

The dockworker pointed to some distant location off to his right and replied, "It's over on the other side of the platform. Probably where that guy Nagato was headed. He hopped on the cargo train right after he killed your friend." Then Powell leaned on the crate in front of him and started ranting angrily, "I knew that beacon was trouble! Everything's gone to crap since we found it. First that freakin' mother ship showed up. Then the attack." He shook his head. "They killed everyone. Everyone! If I hadn't been behind the crates, I'd be dead too!"

"That's how you survived?" Sakura asked a little incredulously. "Then why didn't everyone take cover behind the crates?"

"They never had a chance," Powell replied in a sad tone as he looked down. "I… I was already behind the crates when the attack started."

"Wait a minute," Kaiden said, holding up a hand briefly. "You were hiding behind the crates before the attack?"

Now Powell looked uncomfortable and answered hesitantly, "I…sometimes need a nap to get through my shift, so I sneak off behind the crates to grab forty winks where the supervisor can't find me."

_"Sounds like Shikamaru when he's not flying,"_ Naruto thought while suppressing a wry smile and a chuckle. _"Well, I guess sometimes when he is flying too."_

But Sakura didn't find it so amusing. "You survived because you're lazy?" she asked rhetorically, the disgust evident in her voice.

The commander just shrugged and said, "I'm pretty sure he's aware of that, Haruno. And I doubt it's making him feel any better to know a nap is the only thing that saved him from being killed like all the others. Wouldn't you agree?" He directed the last part to both the gunnery chief and the dockworker.

Sakura just averted her gaze and nodded while Powell replied, "Yeah. Yeah, I guess. I don't really want to think about it." He looked down at the ground.

"I understand," Naruto said sympathetically. "I just have a couple more questions. What can you tell me about the attack, and what's this 'mother ship' you saw?"

Powell looked back up and answered, "Well, the attack was quick. One minute, that ship was descending. The next, those robots were swarming over the platform, thousands of them." Then he paused for a moment before answering the second question. "And the ship…I've never seen anything like it before. It-It was huge. Landed over near that platform. The whole place got dark as it came down. And-And it was making this noise, this-this sound that bored right into your brain. That's what woke me up. The attack came a few minutes later."

"Alright, thanks for telling us about that," Naruto said to the man. Then to his team, "We need to get to that beacon."

"Take the cargo train," Powell suggested. "That's where that Nagato guy went." He turned away before any of them could respond and mumbled as he walked away, "I…I can't stay here. I need to get away from all this."

The team didn't stick around to watch him leave. Instead, they drew their weapons again and headed for the cargo train, running into yet another group of dorei. Naruto groaned inwardly as he biotically pushed one dorei over the railing of the walkway and gunned down another in the face. Needless to say, he was getting pretty sick of these robots. And to make matters worse, the team encountered a new model—the Dorei Destroyer, which was twice as large as the normal Dorei Troopers that they had been fighting.

The Destroyers were true to their name too as one shot from them could easily knock out the team's shields. So the commander ordered Alenko and Haruno to stay in cover while they whittled away at the monstrosity. After several minutes of fighting, the Destroyer finally exploded, but the team was not without injury. Fortunately, none of their wounds were too serious, and Sakura managed to treat them as they moved farther down the walkway while fighting off the remaining Troopers.

Eventually, they reached the cargo train and rode it to the other side.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Nagato marched up to a random Dorei Trooper and in a commanding tone, said, "Set the charges. Destroy the entire colony. Leave no evidence that we were here."

The dorei just looked at him with a blank, emotionless face while making an electronic stuttering noise, but Nagato wasn't expecting a response and strode over to where the beacon stood on the platform. Standing in front of it, he looked up at it as he relaxed his body and mind. Then the beacon activated, lifting Nagato up into the air as it relayed its information directly into the red-haired man's brain.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

The cargo train carrying Naruto, Kaiden, and Sakura arrived at the opposite platform as the dorei were setting the demolition charges. Noticing the explosives immediately, the commander ordered Lieutenant Alenko—since he was the most tech-savvy of the three of them—to disarm them while he and Sakura held off the dorei. Kaiden never worked so fast in his life and was starting to sweat as the minutes passed.

The first two he managed to disarm no problem. But as he was disarming the third one, Sakura suddenly let out a yell, and Kaiden risked looking up from what he was doing.

"Alenko, focus!" the commander reprimanded him while grabbing the medic and throwing her into cover. Kaiden obeyed immediately, and Naruto held the line on his own. Meanwhile Sakura, who had been hit in the side, was putting medi-gel on her injury before getting back into the fight.

The team managed to make their way through to the fourth and final explosive, but they were running out of time—maybe only a minute left. Kaiden, however, knew what he was doing by now and managed to disable it with seconds to spare, which the team took to catch their breath and check their injuries before heading down the ramps to the platform where the beacon lay.

Suddenly, shots whizzed by their heads, and husks started running toward them.

"Oh, you've GOT to be kidding me!" Naruto yelled in frustration. "There's more of them?! Argh!"

Unseen by the other two members of his team, Naruto's blue eyes briefly flashed red before he charged into the fray, throwing enemies left, right, and sideways biotically with one hand while shotgunning everything else in the face with the other. Kaiden and Sakura glanced at each other briefly before joining their commander in the fight, picking off anything the blonde berserker didn't quite kill.

Just as suddenly as it started, the fight was over with Naruto tearing one last husk apart. He stood there a minute, breathing heavily, as he looked over at the beacon. Seeing it intact, he put a hand to his ear to activate his radio so he could contact the ship.

"Konoha, the beacon is secure. Request immediate evac," the commander reported, turning around and walking a few steps away as he waited for a response from the ship.

"This is amazing," said Kaiden with a bit of awe in his voice as he and Sakura moved to get a closer look at the beacon while Naruto was reporting to the Konoha. "Actual working ancient technology. Unbelievable!"

"Yeah," Sakura agreed as she moved a little closer to the object in question. "It wasn't doing anything when they dug it up. Something must've activated it."

"Roger, Konoha. Standing by." Naruto ended the transmission with the ship and turned to Kaiden as the lieutenant asked him something. Meanwhile, Sakura's curiosity was getting the best of her, and she was moving closer to the beacon to inspect it.

Suddenly, the air around her seemed to warp, and Sakura felt herself being pulled toward the beacon. She struggled and fought against the unseen force, not sure what the beacon would do to her and not too eager to find out. Seeing her plight over Kaiden's shoulder, Naruto rushed to Sakura's aid, grabbing and throwing her out of the beacon's grasp. Unfortunately, though, he was now being pulled in instead.

The beacon lifted Naruto up in the air and began assaulting his mind with flashes of images.

"Commander!" Sakura called out as she tried to get to her feet to help him.

Kaiden held her back. "No! Don't touch him! It's too dangerous!"

Gritting his teeth in pain, Naruto was struggling to withstand the onslaught of images the beacon was forcing into his brain, and just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, the beacon overloaded and blew up, knocking the commander out cold. He hit the ground, and Sakura managed to break free from Kaiden, rushing over to the unconscious blonde and turned him over so that he lay on his back. Kaiden walked up next to her as he contacted the Konoha to report that their commander was down.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

The black, squid-like ship that had attacked Haraiso Puraimu flew silently through space away from the colony it had practically torn apart. Onboard, Nagato sat in his chair awaiting a report from his second-in-command, who came into the room and stood behind his chair. She wore a black dress with a high collar, blue eye-shadow around her gold-colored eyes, and had her light blue hair up in a bun on the top, right side of her head.

Clearing her throat, she gave her report in a monotone voice. "We identified the ship that touched down on Haraiso Puraimu. The Konoha. An Alliance vessel. It was under the command of Captain Jiraiya. They managed to save the colony."

"And the beacon?" Nagato queried in a low, dangerous voice.

In the same monotone, she answered, "One of the soldiers may have used it."

That was exactly what the red-haired man did not want to hear. In a fit of rage, he jumped up from his seat and knocked over a table next to the chair while yelling incoherently. The woman merely moved her head to the side as an object that had been on the table flew past her. And what was most peculiar was the fact that the lighting in the room began flashing red, seeming to reflect Nagato's anger.

The lighting returned to normal as Nagato's fit ended with him grabbing the woman's face and staring into her eyes. She stared back with that same emotionless look she'd had on the entire time.

His face was less than an inch away from hers as he said, "This soldier must be eliminated." And with that, he moved away and turned around while the woman watched him go with narrowed eyes.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Back on the Konoha, Naruto opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. He squeezed them shut again for a moment to prepare himself for the pain the light would bring. Opening them again more cautiously, he shook his head a bit and groaned.

"Doctor? Doctor Tsunade? I think he's waking up," he heard Sakura say as he sat up and moved to the edge of the examining table he was on. He noticed he was out of his armor and in his casual clothes—a tight-fitting black T-shirt that showed his muscles well, a pair of loose burnt-orange pants, and black shoes. The jacket he usually wore, which was black across the shoulders and down the sleeves with burnt-orange around the middle and a red spiral on the back, was folded neatly on a nearby table.

He held his throbbing head in his hands as the two women walked over to him. Tsunade was giving him a sympathetic smile as she moved in front of him, and Sakura stood off to the side behind him, looking at him apologetically. She too was out of her armor, wearing a red shirt with a white circle on the back and a pair of tight black pants and black shoes, and now that she was without her helmet, Naruto could see she had almost chin-length pink hair.

"You had us all worried there, gaki," Tsunade told him kindly as she scanned him briefly with her omni-tool. "How are you feeling?"

Naruto groaned again but gave her a wry smile. "Well, I've actually found something more painful than when you punch me in the head, Baa-chan," he half-joked.

Knowing the blonde man's condition, Tsunade suppressed an urge to strike him for using her hated nickname again. But she still yelled, "Don't call me that!"

Naruto winced but otherwise ignored her outburst and asked, "How long was I out?"

"About fifteen hours," the doctor told him after taking a deep breath to calm herself. "I think something happened with the beacon."

"It was my fault," Sakura said as she looked down at the floor. "I think I got too close and activated it somehow. If you hadn't pushed me out of the way…"

"Hey, don't worry about it," Naruto told her with a kind smile. "I'm sure if you hadn't set it off, I would've done something to cause all this anyway," he added with a chuckle. The pinkette just smiled back, grateful Naruto wasn't a strict commanding officer.

Then Tsunade said, "Actually, we don't know what caused all this to happen. And unfortunately, we'll never get the chance to find out."

The whisker-faced man looked at her confused and Sakura explained as she moved more in front of him, "The beacon exploded and knocked you out in the process. Lieutenant Alenko and I carried you back to the ship."

"Thanks," Naruto said with another smile, which she returned while giving a nod. Then he looked serious again and asked, "But the beacon exploded?" He sighed when they nodded. "Well, that sucks."

"Indeed," the blonde doctor concurred. "But as for you, you're fine physically. Mentally, however…I detected some unusual brain activity. Abnormal beta waves. Also, an increase in your rapid eye movement. Both of which are usually signs of intense dreaming." She paused, waiting for Naruto to say something. When he didn't, she asked, "Did you see anything you remember?"

Naruto stood up from the examining table and leaned back against is as he crossed his arms. Staring at the floor, he replied, "Yeah, I saw some stuff. I'm still trying to figure out what it was exactly. But I know for sure that it was bad."

"How bad?" Sakura inquired.

"Very," he answered, looking up at her. "Death and destruction all over kind of bad."

Tsunade considered this for a moment before saying, "Hmm. Well, I think I need to add this to my report. It may—Oh, Captain Jiraiya."

The white-haired man in question walked into the room and addressed Tsunade, "How's our XO holding up, Doc?" He looked at his whisker-faced second-in-command and gave him a small smile.

"All his results look fine," Tsunade answered. "I'd say the gaki's going to be fine."

Jiraiya nodded. "Glad to hear it." Then he to the commander he said, "Naruto, I need to speak with you—in private."

Catching the hint, Sakura saluted and said, "Aye, aye, Captain. I'll just be in the mess if you need me." And she walked out of the med-bay. Tsunade, for her part, went across the room to work at her terminal.

Once the pinkette was gone, Jiraiya turned back to Naruto. "Are you sure you're okay, kid? It sounds like things were pretty serious down there."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Naruto reflexively answered. He never wanted anyone to worry about him.

"Naruto, this is me you're talking to," Jiraiya said softly as he laid a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I can tell something's bothering you."

Naruto hesitated for a second, then sighed. "I just…I just don't like soldiers dying under my command."

Jiraiya squeezed the young blonde's shoulder. "I understand, kid. But what happened with Jenkins wasn't your fault. You got that?" Naruto just nodded.

He was silent a moment before asking, "You wanted to talk to me, sir?"

"Sir? Since when are you so formal, gaki?" Jiraiya gently teased him as he withdrew his hand.

"Sorry, Ero-taicho," Naruto replied with a mischievous grin. "It's been a long day."

A vein appeared on the captain's forehead in response to the nickname the blonde used for him. "I didn't mean for you to be _that_ informal, gaki," he said sternly. "But never mind that. Yes, I need to talk to you." Folding his hands behind his back, Jiraiya looked at Naruto seriously. "I won't lie to you, kid. Things look bad. Yahiko's dead, the beacon's destroyed, and the dorei are invading. The Council is already demanding answers."

"I didn't do anything wrong, Jiraiya," Naruto said defensively as he stood up straight.

"I know you didn't, Naruto," the captain reassured him. "And I'll stand by you and your report. In my book, you're a hero for what you did for that colony." He turned and walked a little ways away. Without facing the commander, he continued, "But that's not why I'm here. It's Nagato—the man that dockworker told you killed Yahiko.

"Nagato's a Spectre, one of the best. A living legend, in fact. But if he's working with the dorei, then he's gone rogue." Jiraiya turned back to Naruto. "A rogue Spectre's trouble, and Nagato is particularly dangerous. Even by Spectre standards."

"What makes him so dangerous?" the blonde asked, narrowing his eyes.

Jiraiya sighed. "Nagato's always been a bit…idealistic. He has a great desire to bring peace to the galaxy, but how he goes about achieving it is, well…questionable. He thinks the ends justify the means, and now that he's allied himself with the dorei… I can't see this ending well. And I know this centers around something to do with the beacon. Before it exploded, did you see anything? Any clue as to what Nagato might be after?"

Leaning back against the examining table again, Naruto replied, "Like I told Baa-chan, I'm not sure what I saw exactly. I think machines were slaughtering things. Organic things, but not human. It makes no sense, but the feeling I got from it was it like something trying to warn me."

Jiraiya considered what the commander said seriously. "We need to report this to the Council, Naruto."

The blonde scoffed. "What're we gonna tell them? I had a bad dream?"

"We don't know what information was in that beacon," Jiraiya explained as he walked back closer to where Naruto was standing. "Could've been some ancient technology or blueprints for a weapon of mass destruction. Whatever it was, Nagato took it. But I know Nagato—his reputation, his ideals, his politics. He'll stop at nothing to bring about peace to the galaxy even if it means killing every single person there is to accomplish it, and with the secrets of that beacon as well as an army of dorei at his command, he's closer than ever to his goal."

Naruto stood up straight again, and with determination burning in his eyes, he declared, "Not if I can help it! I'll take him down, no matter what. Peace achieved that way isn't true peace at all."

The captain smiled briefly, proud of Naruto's courage, but then his expression turned serious again. "It's not that easy, gaki," Jiraiya told him. "As a Spectre, Nagato can go anywhere and do almost anything, which is why we need the Council on our side."

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard, right? We just have to prove that this Nagato guy went rogue, and they'll take away his Spectre status," Naruto said.

Jiraiya nodded. "We have an audience scheduled with them as soon as we reach the Citadel. And actually, we should be getting pretty close. Go tell Nara to bring us into dock."

Naruto was about to obey when his stomach protested with a loud growl. The captain sweat-dropped while Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Okay, gaki, go get some ramen on your way to the bridge," Jiraiya said with a chuckle.

"Alright!" Naruto yelled with a fist in the air. Grabbing his jacket and putting it on, he headed out of the med-bay at a jog.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Several minutes later, Naruto was standing behind Shikamaru with a bowl of ramen in hand, slurping noodles while simultaneously telling the lazy pilot to bring the Konoha into the Citadel. Shikamaru complied, but not without rolling his eyes at his commander's antics.

The ship flew toward the massive space station and docked where the traffic operator directed them. However, they were told to wait until a C-Sec officer came to escort them to the Council Chambers. Having no other choice but to comply with the strange request, Naruto, Sakura, and Kaiden put on their armor and waited outside the ship for their escort to show up.

They didn't have to wait that long as only a few minutes passed before a black-haired, onyx-eyed man in blue and black C-Sec armor approached them. He carried a pistol on his hip and a sniper rifle and katana on his back.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted grinning as he recognized the man and walked over to him.

"Hey, Naruto," the man greeted the blonde commander with a small smirk. "Long time no see."

"I'll say. It's been at least a couple years," Naruto agreed.

"Um, Commander?" Sakura began, coming up from behind him. "You know each other?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. Sasuke and I go way back," Naruto told her with a huge smile still on his face. Then he turned back to Sasuke and introduced his team. "Sasuke, this is Gunnery Chief Sakura Haruno and Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko."

Sasuke nodded to them. "Officer Sasuke Uchiha. Nice to meet you," he said flatly. "And yeah, Naruto and I pretty much grew up together on Kurama before we joined the Alliance."

"Yeah, until the teme here decided he wanted the cushier lifestyle of living on the Citadel," Naruto teased his old friend.

Sasuke crossed his arms. "Hmph. Well, we can't all enjoy flying across the galaxy and being the big hero to all our colonies out there."

"Aw, Sasuke, you jelly?" Naruto chuckled.

"As if, dobe," Sasuke retorted.

"Teme."

"Loser."

"Jerk."

"Idiot."

"Bas—"

"Uh, Commander?" Kaiden cut into the insult-fest. "Shouldn't we be heading over to see the Council now?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. Right." He turned back to Sasuke and said, "Well, lead on, escort-teme."

"Hn," was the only response he received as Sasuke turned and started walking back toward the elevator he came to the docks on.

The team followed him, and once on the elevator, Naruto asked, "So, Sasuke. What's with the added security? Since when do Alliance soldiers need a C-Sec escort to see the Council?"

Sasuke sighed a little. "Well actually, I'm not supposed to say anything, but you'll probably find out eventually." He turned to face his old friend. "We had a bit of a…situation before you arrived, and the whole Citadel's in an uproar over it."

"Really? What happened?" Naruto asked concerned.

"We arrested someone," Sasuke answered, but then hesitated as if he couldn't believe what he was about to say next.

In his ever-present impatience, Naruto couldn't help but say, "So? Isn't that a daily thing for you guys?"

"It's not just anyone, dobe," the officer replied in an annoyed voice. "This person is…" he paused again.

"What?"

"He's…a non-human."

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

See? Told you there'd be aliens eventually. And one million cookies to the person or people who manage to guess who/what this alien person will be. Will it be a Mass Effect alien? Or a Naruto creature made into an alien? You'll find out in the next chapter along with getting some hints as to why there's such an absence of other sapient species besides humans.

So to those of you actually enjoying my story, I hope you liked this chapter and that you're looking forward to the next one. And the more encouraging reviews I get, the faster you'll get the next chapter.

Which, needless to say, means I don't want any discouraging reviews. If you don't like my story, I don't want to know, and I direct your attention to either the search bar up at the top so you may look for a new story or to the X up in the top right-hand corner of your browser window.

To recap: If you like my story so far, please let me know. If you don't, then don't tell me. And honestly, if you don't like it, it's a lot easier and less time-consuming for you to just exit the story without typing out a review.

Anyway, Chapter 5 will introduce our first sapient alien and hopefully finally bring in Hinata. Seriously, I've noticed Tali (whom Hinata is taking the place of) takes a bit to be introduced in each game, but it seems so much longer when you're writing a fanfiction that follows the storyline. And before anyone says anything, yes, I know that Tali is the first one of your old team that you run into in ME2, but then you don't see her again until after Horizon's mission is complete, which is somewhat midway through the game. And ME3 takes about just as long to make her appear again too. Makes me sad. I may mainly play FemSheps who romance Garrus, but Tali's my Sheps' best friend and in the case of my one male Shep, she's his love interest. It's just sad times for all Tali fans.

But I digress. Hope you'll stick around for Chapter 5. Until then!


	5. The Hyuuga and The Spectre

Hello, all. Once again, I'd like to thank all of you who are reading my story and enjoying it, and as usual, I'd like to take a moment to respond to all of you who gave me a review on the previous chapter.

**MYK-ON**: Thank you! Hope you enjoy this one just as much!

**p13600d**: Thanks very much for your review! And yeah, I've never been a fan of Kaiden or Ashley either. But I like Kaiden even less than Ashley, so you can guess how Virmire usually turns out for my Shepards. Hahaha. I actually used to hate Ashley more, though, cuz I thought she was a racist, but then I talked to her more and found out that she's not exactly racist. It's more that she just hasn't had much contact with aliens and so has trust issues going on. She still irritates me to my very core, but Kaiden is so much worse for me. Anyway, thank you for the encouraging review, and I'm glad you like what I'm doing with this story. ^_^ There will be more twists, and I hope you enjoy them as well! And yes! Another who always takes Tali and Garrus along! Team Dextro ftw! :D

**AXL999**: You're the first person to demand an update. Thank you! It makes me happy to know that someone likes my story so much that they're eager for more. ^_^ I'll always try to update ASAP, but if you feel I'm slacking, just threaten me Mass Effect and/or Naruto style (jokingly of course. If I think you're serious, then it'll make me hide and not update).

That's it for the reviews! On with Chapter 5.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Mass Effect. If you've read my other story, then you'd know how Naruto would turn out if I owned it, and if I owned Mass Effect, then the final battle of the third game would've been against an actual boss, not just a freakin' swarm of enemies.

Oh, and I apologize to any of you who may be fans of Ashley or Kaiden. 'Twas not my intention to offend. But just as you're entitled to your opinion to like them, I'm entitled to mine to dislike them. I will refrain from bashing either of them in this story, though, unless some of you consider Sakura taking Ashley's place as a bash. In that case, well, I don't know what to tell you…

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Naruto just blinked at his old friend. Then he burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! That's a good one, Sasuke."

"I'm not joking, dobe," the black-haired officer replied seriously.

The blonde's laughter grew quiet and died. He looked at his friend skeptically and said, "Yeah right. You just want me to believe you so you can turn around and make fun of me for it. Well, I'm not falling for it, teme. You don't have what it takes to be a prankster like me."

"Which is why I'm telling you the truth, you moron," Sasuke snapped in annoyance. "Not everyone goes around playing pranks on people all the time, and I certainly don't care enough to."

Naruto considered the officer's words for a moment, not at all affected by the underlying insult, then replied, "Seriously? No joke? You guys actually arrested an alien?"

Sasuke nodded, crossing his arms. "Yup. He showed up this morning and caused quite a panic. People thought we were being infiltrated by some new enemy. Added to what recently happened on Haraiso Puraimu, people were starting to think the galaxy was coming to an end."

"Yeah, I could kind of understand that," Kaiden threw in looking thoughtful. "But how's C-Sec handling the situation?"

"Well, the official story is that it was just some guy wearing a very strange, but very well-made, costume," the officer answered. "Most are buying it, but there's always a few of those paranoid, conspiracy-theory types who refuse to believe it. Kind of ironic that they're actually right this time." He smirked at that.

As the elevator door opened and the group stepped out, Sakura asked, "So what're you guys going to do with him?"

"Shh, not here," Sasuke whispered back. "I'll tell you more once we're in my car."

The pinkette—she was no longer wearing her helmet with her armor—nodded, and the group proceeded to Sasuke's patrol skycar. They got into the vehicle—Sasuke driving, Naruto sitting shotgun, and Kaiden and Sakura in the back—and began making their way to the Citadel Tower.

As soon as they were moving, Sasuke answered Sakura's question. "We aren't sure what to do with the non-human. The Council only told us to hold onto him until they could deal with him, but they're too preoccupied with the appearance of the dorei right now."

"Well, what was this guy doing when you arrested him?" Naruto asked. "Was he doing something dangerous or were people panicking just 'cause he isn't human?"

"That's the thing. He acted like he was running from something, but otherwise he wasn't doing anything," Sasuke replied.

Naruto cast a sidelong glance at his friend. "So…what's your take on all this?"

"Honestly? I think something weird's going on," Sasuke told him with evident suspicion in his voice. "The guy wasn't doing anything dangerous, and he can communicate with us…I'd understand our scientists and diplomats wanting to talk to him, but detain him? It just doesn't seem right."

"I don't suppose there'd be any way for me to talk to him, huh?" Naruto asked, knowing the answer was most likely "no".

"Not unless you became a Spectre," Sasuke responded. "That's about the only way you'd be high-up enough to override the order against anyone seeing him."

The blonde commander didn't respond and just looked out the window with a pensive expression. They landed outside the tower and got onto the elevator, pressing the button for the top floor.

On the trip up, Kaiden decided to break the silence. "Commander?"

"Huh?" the man in question said as he was broken from his thoughts. "Oh. What is it, Alenko?"

"I was just wondering, where's Captain Jiraiya? Shouldn't he be here to meet the Council with us?"

"Oh, he'll be here," Naruto told him with an unconcerned wave of his hand. "He said he had something to take care of first, but that he'd definitely make it to the meeting in time."

Kaiden nodded and Sakura thought aloud, "I wonder what he had to take care of."

Naruto just held back a groan. _"I can guess, but I don__'t think you want to know,__"_ he thought to himself. Out loud, he said shrugging, "Who knows? Maybe he just had to finish some reports." Before anyone could continue on the subject, the blonde turned to his old friend. "So, Sasuke. How long do you have to escort us around?"

"Just until the alien situation is taken care of," the officer replied. "Besides, I was the one who led the investigation into Nagato, so I'm here to present my findings to the Council at the hearing."

"Really?" the commander asked in surprise. "So what did you find?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Sorry, Naruto. It's really a whole lot of nothing. Because he's a Spectre, everything he touches is classified. There's really no hard evidence to be found. I might've found something if I'd had more time, but the investigation was called off." Seeing his friend's disappointed face, the black-haired officer attempted to reassure him. "Maybe you can convince them, though. We'll never know until we try."

Naruto nodded, not entirely convinced but still grateful for his friend's attempt to make him feel better. And the blonde commander never was one to just give up; he wasn't going to let Nagato get away with anything.

The elevator reached the top floor, and the group walked out into a massive hallway that led to an even larger room. There were cherry blossom trees lining the hallway, and a few were in the small gardens that dotted the enormous room, giving the entire place a serene and peaceful atmosphere. Along the sides of the room were many doors that led to the offices of the really important diplomats, including an office for each Councilor. A few of these diplomats were standing in various places around the room, talking in hushed tones, and the group caught a bit of one conversation as they passed by.

"Did you hear? C-Sec supposedly caught a non-human earlier today."

"Really? You mean like...?"

"Yeah, a sapient alien! Not like these animals we've found like the keepers."

"Wow..."

"Yeah, I know. This is some serious stuff."

"Well, what are they going to do with it? Are there more of its kind?"

"Don't know yet. C-Sec's being real hush-hush about it."

"Hmm. Well, maybe..."

The conversation faded away as the group walked to the far end of the room at which point, they came to a large set of stairs. Halfway up, Sasuke stopped them and said that his boss, the executor, had just contacted him, telling him Captain Jiraiya was about to arrive at the Tower and they should wait for him. Only a few minutes passed before the white-haired man could be seen coming toward the stairs, and unnoticeable to everyone except Naruto, there was a perverted glint in the captain's eyes.

_"Ero-taicho...what did you do?" _Naruto thought with a hand on his face.

"Hello, Commander, Lieutenant, Chief," Jiraiya greeted his crew cheerfully while ignoring Naruto's disapproving look. He then shook Sasuke's hand and said, "And you must be Officer Uchiha. Nice to meet you. Now, shall we proceed to the meeting?"

Without waiting for a response, he headed up the remaining stairs. Naruto just shrugged and followed him with the others in tow.

The audience room at the top of the stairs was an open area with a short walkway where those wishing to speak with the Council stood. On the other side of the walkway across a large gap, was the wide ledge where the Council gathered as they held audience, and beneath the walkway and ledge was a glass floor that showed off the garden below it. To the right and left of the audience room were balconies for the diplomats to watch important Council meetings, and instead of a wall behind the Council's ledge, there was a massive window with a gorgeous view of the Presidium.

The Councilors—Donnel Udina, Danzo Shimura, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado—stood on their ledge, awaiting Captain Jiraiya, his crew, and Officer Uchiha. Nagato, who was present via QEC hologram, was off to the right of the Council, looking down on Naruto and his group with arrogance and contempt.

"Captain Jiraiya, thank you for finally joining us," said Danzo with a hint of sarcasm. Danzo was an elderly man who looked like he'd seen his share of battles in his younger days. Half of his face had been heavily reconstructed with cybernetics, giving him the appearance of being half-robot, something that was not helped by the fact that his right arm was a cybernetic prosthetic. (Try saying that five times fast).

"I apologize for my lateness, Councilor," Jiraiya replied sincerely. "I had to finish a few reports."

_"Yeah right,__" _Naruto thought but otherwise said nothing.

"Well, regardless," Koharu, an old woman who wore her gray hair in a bun and was the only female Councilor, began, shrugging off Jiraiya's excuse, "let's get down to business." Gesturing toward Sasuke, she said, "Officer Uchiha, would you please present the evidence you obtained in your investigation?"

Sasuke nodded, stepped forward, and activated his omni-tool to transfer his findings to the Councilors' terminals in front of them. Then he stepped back. The Councilors looked over the evidence and like Sasuke had told Naruto, they found nothing solid to convict Nagato. After a few moments had passed, the four Councilors looked at each other, shaking their heads, before they looked back at Captain Jiraiya and the others.

Koharu cleared her throat before saying, "Well, while the dorei attack is a matter of some concern, there is nothing to indicate Nagato was involved in any way."

"The investigation by Citadel Security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason," Danzo added, scowling.

Jiraiya couldn't believe his ears. He knew there wouldn't be any hard evidence for C-Sec to find—they were up against a Spectre after all. But for the Council to be so ready to just shrug the whole thing off? "An eyewitness saw him kill Yahiko in cold blood!" he argued, knowing the situation was becoming hopeless fast.

"We've read the Haraiso Puraimu reports, Captain. The testimony of one traumatized dockworker is hardly compelling proof," Homura, a bearded man about as old as Danzo with gray hair who wore dark-rimmed glasses, refuted calmly.

And before anyone could respond, Nagato jumped in with, "I resent these accusations. Yahiko was a fellow Spectre. And a friend."

"That just let you catch him off guard!" Jiraiya retorted angrily.

"Captain Jiraiya. You always seem to be involved when false charges are brought against me," Nagato sneered. Then he looked at Naruto. "And this must be your protégé, Commander Shepard. The one who let the beacon get destroyed."

Naruto gritted his teeth as he held back his rage at the jibe, and he summoned all his willpower to calmly reply, "The mission to Haraiso Puraimu was top secret. You couldn't know anything about it unless you were there!"

"With Yahiko gone, his files passed on to me," the red-haired Spectre told him with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I read the Haraiso Puraimu report. I was unimpressed. But what can you expect from some street orphan?"

"WHY YOU—"

Jiraiya cut off Naruto's oncoming tirade with a hand on the blonde's shoulder. The commander looked at his captain, who just shook his head. Taking a deep breath, Naruto nodded and kept silent.

Nagato, however, wasn't done taunting the blonde. "You need to learn your place, Shepard. You're not ready to join the Spectres. You're not even cut out to be a commander!"

The white-haired captain held his hand out in front of Naruto to stop the young man from arguing back, and with a dark glare at Nagato, he said, "You have no right to say that! Commander Shepard has earned his rank."

"Also, Shepard's admission into the Spectres is not the purpose of this meeting," Udina added, finally joining the conversation. He was the youngest of the Council members—middle-aged like Jiraiya—and had very short black hair, brown eyes, dark skin, and a bit of an accent.

"This meeting has no purpose," Nagato snarled. "These Alliance soldiers are wasting your time, Councilor. And mine."

"He's just hiding behind his Spectre status! You need to open your eyes!" Naruto pleaded to the Council, finding it harder and harder to control his temper.

But Homura just replied while adjusting his glasses, "What we need is evidence. So far, we have seen nothing."

"There's still one outstanding issue, Councilors," Jiraiya said quickly. "Commander Shepard's vision. It may have been triggered by the beacon."

"Are we allowing dreams into evidence now? How can I defend my innocence against this kind of testimony?" the Spectre asked incredulously.

"I agree. Our judgment must be based on facts and evidence, not wild imaginings and reckless speculation," Danzo told them all.

"Do you have anything else to add, Commander Shepard?" Udina prompted.

But Naruto knew it was hopeless. "Why bother? You already made your decision." He shook his head and scowled.

The Councilors looked at each other, shook their own heads, and Koharu spoke for all of them, "The Council has found no evidence of any connection between Nagato and the dorei. Captain, your petition to have him disbarred from the Spectres is denied."

"I'm glad to see justice was served," Nagato said smugly before he cut communications and his hologram disappeared.

"This meeting is adjourned," Koharu stated, and the Councilors turned and walked out of the room.

Defeated, Naruto and his group left the walkway and went back down to the landing halfway between the two sets of stairs. They stopped and stood in a circle and began to plan their next move.

Jiraiya crossed his arms and sighed while staring at the ground. "It was a mistake, my coming to the hearing."

"What makes you say that, Jiraiya?" Naruto asked.

"Nagato and I have too much history. I think it made the Council question our motives," he explained. "But I know Nagato. He's working with the dorei for one reason: to take control of the galaxy and impose his own twisted version of peace upon it. Every single colony is at risk. Every world we control is in danger. Even Kurama isn't safe."

Nodding, the commander replied, "So, what do we do now?"

"Well, it seems Nagato's pretty much untouchable as a Spectre," Sakura more or less stated the obvious. "We need to find a way to expose him."

"What about you, Officer?" Kaiden asked Sasuke. "Didn't you mention something earlier about finding something if you'd had more time?"

"Yeah, I did actually," Sasuke answered with a nod. "I had a lead that seemed promising, but before I could check it out, my boss told me the investigation was over."

"Well, let's go check it out now! Come on, Sasuke!" Naruto urged as he pulled on his friend's arm.

Sasuke pulled his arm away. "Calm down, dobe."

Jiraiya stepped in before Naruto started arguing with Sasuke. "Alright. Naruto, you go with Officer Uchiha to check out this lead. I'll be waiting here."

"Wait. Why aren't you coming with us, Jiraiya?" the blonde asked.

"Like I said, Naruto, Nagato and I have too much history. So I'm going to step down and let you handle this one," Jiraiya told him.

The commander was hesitant, though, to have his captain cut himself out of the investigation. "Are you sure?"

Jiraiya simply nodded and gave him an order. "Now, get going! We need to stop Nagato!"

"Right!" Naruto yelled, and the three Alliance soldiers saluted before following Officer Uchiha to the elevator. On their way down, the commander asked, "So where are we going, Sasuke?"

"To see a doctor in the Wards. I heard she treated someone recently who may have information about Nagato," Sasuke explained. "We're going to see if the doctor can lead us to this person."

"Ah. Sounds good," Naruto replied with a nod.

The group exited the elevator when it reached the bottom floor and got back into Sasuke's squad car, which they then took to the Wards where the med clinic of the doctor in question was located.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

"There's five people in there," Sasuke told Naruto and the others once they were standing outside the med clinic. He was looking at the clinic door with red eyes that each had three tomoe around the pupil. "And from what I can tell, I'd say they're threatening the doctor."

_"Wow, an actual Sharingan!__" _Sakura thought impressed. She wanted to ask Sasuke about how it worked as she'd always been curious, but decided to leave it for later. Now wasn't the time.

"So how shall we do this?" Naruto asked. "'The Usual'?"

Sasuke smirked at his friend. "You read my mind."

The two friends started to move toward the door when Kaiden stopped them. "Um, Commander? You mind filling in me and the Chief here?"

"Huh? Oh sorry, Kaiden," Naruto said sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head. "Don't worry. Just follow me and Sasuke's lead."

Not exactly feeling comfortable with that response, the lieutenant just agreed and moved with Sakura behind Naruto and Sasuke. The commander pressed himself against the door with his pistol drawn while motioning for the chief and lieutenant to each take a side of the door with their own pistols ready. The C-Sec officer crouched low next to his friend, sniper rifle in hand and Sharingan still active. He told Naruto the enemies' positions and where he was fairly certain the doctor was.

Then "'The Usual'" began.

Naruto burst into the clinic, screaming like a madman as he began throwing the armed men in the room left, right, and sideways with his biotics and shooting carelessly—although not around where the doctor was—all around them. Meanwhile, Sasuke had taken aim at the thug nearest to the doctor and sniped him before the poor man even had a chance to try to use the doctor as a hostage. As soon as the man was down, Sasuke wasted no time in rushing over to the doctor and pulling her into cover before he continued the fight by sniping whatever thug who wasn't currently flying through the air thanks to Naruto. Kaiden and Sakura, for their part, had just recovered from their surprise enough to get in a couple of shots of their own.

"Alright! That was some awesome teamwork! Believe it!" Naruto cheered when the last guy was dead. Then he made his way over to his friend and the doctor.

"Are you alright, Doctor Shizune?" Sasuke asked her as the blonde commander approached.

Doctor Shizune—a woman in her mid-thirties with black chin-length hair, black eyes, and wearing the usual medic clothes—took a deep breath and answered, "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you. But I don't know what I would've done had you all not come along and stopped them."

"What were they after?" Kaiden inquired as he and Sakura walked over.

"They wanted to shut me up to keep me from telling anyone, especially C-Sec, about the Hyuuga girl," she explained shakily. Her nerves were still pretty much shot by what happened.

"Hyuuga girl? What Hyuuga girl?" the pinkette questioned.

With another deep breath, Shizune was able to answer more calmly, "I treated a Hyuuga girl a few days ago for a gunshot wound. She wouldn't tell me who did it, but I knew she was scared. I assumed she was on the run from whoever shot her, especially when she asked me about the Shadow Broker. She wanted to trade information in exchange for a safe place to hide, so I put her in contact with Fist since he's an agent for the Shadow Broker."

"Wait, wait, wait," Naruto interrupted her. "Who's the Shadow Broker?"

Shizune looked at the commander in confusion, Sasuke and Kaiden both face-palmed, and Sakura gaped at him as if he were an alien. Naruto looked around at them perplexed.

"What?" he asked.

"Seriously? You don't know who the Shadow Broker is?" Sakura replied, her voice dripping with incredulity.

"Obviously." Naruto rolled his eyes. "Just tell me already!"

"Okay, okay. Calm down. The Shadow Broker is essentially the biggest information broker in the entire galaxy," Sakura explained, crossing her arms. "No one really knows who or what he really is. He may even be a she or more than one person. What is known is he pretty much knows just about everything there is to know in the galaxy, he always sells his information to the highest bidder, and yet somehow, he never manages to upset the balance of the galactic community."

"Ah, okay. I get it now. Thanks, Sakura," Naruto said before turning back to Shizune. "So what happened next?"

"Well, I know that Fist isn't an agent for the Shadow Broker anymore," Sasuke told his blonde friend. "He betrayed him to work for Nagato."

"Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker? Nagato must've made quite the offer for Fist to do something that stupid," Shizune commented.

"That Hyuuga must have something Nagato wants. Something big to cross the Shadow Broker for," Sasuke surmised rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Naruto asked the doctor, "Did this Hyuuga girl mention whether or not her information had to do with Nagato or the dorei?"

Shizune nodded and snapped her fingers as she remembered what the girl had told her. "Yes! She did say her information had something to do with the dorei."

"She must be able to link Nagato and the dorei. We need to find her now," Sasuke stated seriously.

"Right! Let's go pay this Fist guy a visit," Naruto said as he cracked his knuckles.

The team thanked Doctor Shizune and left her med clinic, heading for Fist's headquarters, which was within the bar known as Chora's Den. Once there, they saw that the place was closed down, and all their senses told them to be prepared for a fight. After Sasuke activated his Sharingan again, he confirmed the people inside were stationed around the room as if they were prepared for a fight.

"Would 'The Usual' work again?" Naruto asked his friend for his opinion.

But before Sasuke could answer, Sakura had to inquire, "Is 'The Usual' always just you running in screaming while Sasuke snipes a few people from behind you?"

Naruto and Sasuke glanced at each other before they answered simultaneously, "Yeah, pretty much."

Sakura slapped her forehead. "I was afraid that was the answer."

"Why? It's an effective strategy!" the commander argued.

"It's an effective way for you to get shot!" the pinkette snapped.

"Pff! Puh-lease," Naruto scoffed, crossing his arms. "It's harder to get shot when people are so thrown off by my acting crazy that they forget how to shoot for a moment."

"But—"

"No buts, Sakura. It works," Naruto told her. "People don't know how to react when you do what they don't expect. And if there's one thing I know how to do, it's being unpredictable."

"Well then, Commander Unpredictable," Sasuke smirked, "what would you suggest we do here?"

"Well…" Naruto thought for a moment, and slowly, a most devious look crossed his face. "Hehehe…I've got a great plan."

A few minutes passed as Naruto explained his plan to his team. There was some reluctance, but ultimately he was the commander and thus it was his call. The team took their positions outside the door as Naruto…just walked in like he owned the place.

Instantly, Fist's men opened fire on the blonde, but Naruto just held up his hands. Not in surrender, though, but as a gesture to call their attention for a moment while also boosting his shields with a biotic barrier. Seeing Naruto didn't have a weapon drawn, the man behind the bar called for a momentary cease-fire.

When the bullets stopped flying, Naruto just breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Glad you stopped. You guys don't really want to keep shooting me."

"Oh? And why is that?" one of the men sneered at him.

Naruto just flashed him a goofy grin and replied happily, "Because I have a bunch of explosives strapped to me! If you take down my shields and hit me, we're all gonna go up in a giant fireball!"

_"…What the *****?__" _was the collective thought of all Fist's men.

"What? Why would you do that?" the same man from before asked.

"Well, you see," Naruto began as he started making his way around the room—not toward Fist's office, though, lest he trigger these men to begin shooting again, but toward the opposite end from the entrance into the bar. "I just got a dishonorable discharge a couple days ago," he lied. "My CO found out about my red sand habits and had me stripped of my rank and everything! So I'm on my way to go give him a send off no one'll ever forget! But before I do, I thought I'd stop in for one last drink first." He sat down at the bar and motioned for the guy behind it to give him a drink.

The guy behind the bar, though, just stared at the blonde in disbelief. He was contemplating whether or not to give the crazy man his drink or just shoot him in the head when suddenly, his own head exploded.

_"Nice shot, Sasuke,__"_ Naruto thought as he dove behind the bar while drawing his assault rifle. He could hear Sakura and Kaiden open fire on Fist's men, whose attention Naruto had successfully drawn away from the door, effectively catching them from behind.

"Attack! We're under attack!" one man yelled, and they all began to shoot back.

_"Ya don__'t say,__" _Naruto thought sarcastically as he gunned down the man who had yelled.

The fight was short and sweet, thanks to Naruto's distraction. Five of the men had gone down before they had a chance to retaliate, and by then, there wasn't enough of them to even be a threat. Once they were all dead, the team made their way to Fist's office. They practically kicked in his door, and Naruto grabbed Fist with his biotics and pulled him over to them before the man could activate the security turrets in his office. Fist nearly wet himself as he found himself looking into the barrels of four guns from where he lay on the floor.

"Don't kill me! I surrender!" he pleaded, futilely shielding himself with his hands.

"Where's the Hyuuga girl?" Naruto growled.

"She's not here! I don't know where she is! That's the truth!" Fist wailed.

"Want me to get it out of him, Naruto?" Sasuke asked with a sick smirk on his face. It had the desired effect: Fist started shaking uncontrollably.

Naruto looked at his friend, knowing what he was up to, and he held back his own smirk. "Sure. But don't go too far. We need him alive…and able to talk."

"I know, I know. But can I use the scissors? Please tell me I can use the scissors!" Sasuke begged. His face had an even more psychotic look on now.

"I don't know… You tend to go too far with those," Naruto replied, completely unconcerned at his friend's unstable behavior.

"But it's been so LONG since I last used the scissors! I need—"

"The Hyuuga girl isn't here!" Fist screamed, cutting off whatever else Sasuke was going to say and certain that he didn't want to hear it. "She said she'd only deal with the Shadow Broker himself!"

"I thought the Shadow Broker only worked through agents," Kaiden commented while ignoring his confusion at Sasuke's behavior.

"Nobody meets the Shadow Broker. Ever. Even I don't know his true identity. But she didn't know that. I told her I'd set a meeting up, but when she shows up, it'll be Nagato's men waiting for her," the cowering man explained from his fetal position on the floor.

Naruto pulled him up by his throat and shoved him against the wall with his gun to his head. "Tell me where they're meeting or I'll blow your lying head off!"

"Here on the Wards!" Fist told him quickly. "The back alley by the markets! She's supposed to meet them right now! You can make it if you hurry!"

Naruto released the man and pistol-whipped him across the face, knocking him out cold. "Sasuke, get C-Sec to arrest this guy. We need to save that Hyuuga girl! Now!"

The commander dashed out of the bar with his team in tow and ran full-speed toward the alley Fist spoke of.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

A young girl around Naruto's age with waist-length indigo hair, pale Hyuuga eyes, and wearing form-fitting dark purple leather armor underneath a lavender cloak stood in the dark alley, waiting for the Shadow Broker to meet her. She was nervous and fidgeting and jumping at nearly every sound. She let out a small "EEP!" when she saw three men in long black cloaks, their faces shrouded by their hoods, approaching her.

"Did you bring it?" the middle one who seemed to be the leader asked her.

"W-Where's the Sh-Shadow Broker? Where's F-Fist?" the Hyuuga girl stammered.

"Don't worry. They'll be here," the man told her as he got closer and ran his hand through her hair. "Where's the evidence?"

The girl smacked his hand away and jumped back. "N-No way! The d-deal's off!"

The man snarled and lunged to attack her only to find himself being slammed into the wall with the force of a freight train by Naruto's biotics. The commander rushed down the alley toward the other two men, but despite her nervousness, the Hyuuga girl wasn't about to let someone fight all her battles. With the two men distracted by Naruto, the Hyuuga girl took the opportunity to blindside them. She rushed forward, her hood flying back in the process, with dark energy surrounding her hands. At first glance, her attacks seeming to just be light taps on various places of the men's bodies, but in reality, she was hitting vital spots and forcing dark energy into them, bursting blood vessels, warping tissues, and rupturing organs. The men fell to the ground vomiting up blood before they died.

Naruto stopped and stared at the girl as his team came up behind him._"Wow. Pretty AND deadly. I think I__'m in love,__"_ Naruto half-joked in his mind. Out loud, he chuckled and said, "Looks like you didn't need our help after all."

But the Hyuuga girl was modest. "N-No! Th-That's not true! It's only b-because you distracted them that I w-was able to d-defeat these t-two." She looked down at the floor with a blush.

Naruto's smile faded into a look of concern. He approached her slowly and asked, "They didn't hurt you, did they?"

She looked up at him to reply, and in the process, she got a much better look at his appearance. Golden spiky hair that reminded her of a yellow sun, beautiful eyes the color of the best oceans she'd ever seen on any planet, and whisker-like marks on his cheeks that she found strangely attractive. _"So handsome__…"_ she thought blushing. Quickly pushing that thought aside, she answered, "N-No. Y-You stopped them b-before they c-could. Th-Thank you." She bowed. "B-But who are you? A-And what are y-you doing here?"

"My name's Naruto Shepard," the commander replied with a friendly grin. "And I'm looking for evidence to prove Nagato's a traitor."

The Hyuuga girl's eyes widened and she gave him a gentle smile. "Then I c-can repay you for s-saving my life. But n-not here. I-Is there anywhere s-safe we can go?"

"My office in C-Sec headquarters should be safe," Sasuke said. "Let's go there."

"Alright, sounds good," Naruto nodded, and he and the rest of the team along with the Hyuuga girl followed the C-Sec officer. Naruto called Captain Jiraiya along the way and told him to meet them there.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Jiraiya was waiting for them when Naruto and his team walked into Sasuke's office. The white-haired captain chuckled at his young protégé and put an arm around his shoulders.

"So I hear you've been causing quite a stir, Naruto. Firefights in the Wards? An all-out assault on Chora's Den? And who's this pretty lady you've brought with you?" Jiraiya held back a pervy grin as he looked at the Hyuuga girl.

Naruto ignored what he was sure Jiraiya was thinking about the girl and let out a laugh. "You should hear about what we did at the bar. It was awesome!" Then he grew serious and said, "But more to the point, this girl has information that links Nagato to the dorei."

"Really?" Jiraiya asked as he removed his arm from Naruto's shoulders and turned to face the Hyuuga girl. "Would you mind sharing, Miss…?"

The Hyuuga girl bowed and said, "M-My name is Hinata H-Hyuuga."

"It's not often you see a Hyuuga by herself or so far from home. Why did you leave your home?" Jiraiya asked curiously.

Hinata looked uncomfortable with this question and fidgeted nervously. "I-I-I'd r-rather not s-say i-if that's alr-right..."

"Hey, it's okay," Naruto told her with a reassuring smile. He found himself hating the upset look on her face and wanted to make her feel better. "You don't have to tell us that if you don't want to."

"Th-Thank you," the blue-haired girl breathed a sigh of relief. "I-I can tell you i-it is a f-family matter. That's w-why I'm out h-here."

"Good enough for me. So what did you find about Nagato?" Jiraiya asked.

"W-Well, during my t-travels, I began hearing r-reports of dorei. Since they drove m-my p-people into exile, the dorei have never ventured b-beyond their st-star system. So, I was c-curious. I-I tracked a p-patrol of dorei to an uncharted world and w-waited for one to become separated from its unit. Then I d-disabled it and removed its memory core," Hinata explained, looking down at the floor the whole time.

"I thought the dorei fried their memory cores when they died. Some kind of defense mechanism, right?" Jiraiya questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Hinata nodded and said, "Y-Yes, that's true. B-But my people created the dorei. If y-you're quick, c-careful, and lucky, small caches of d-data can sometimes be saved. Most of th-this one was wiped c-clean, but I-I salvaged something from its audio b-banks."

She activated her omni-tool and tapped on it a few times. Then a sound recording began to play. "Haraiso Puraimu was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."

Everyone's eyes widened except Hinata's. "That's Nagato's voice! This proves he was involved in the attack!" Jiraiya shouted triumphantly.

"He said Haraiso Puraimu brought them one step closer to finding the Conduit. What do you think that means?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm…" the captain thought for a moment. "The Conduit obviously has something to do with the beacon… Maybe it's some kind of technology from the ancient civilization. Perhaps a weapon?"

"W-Wait, there's m-more. N-Nagato wasn't working alone," Hinata told them as she tapped on her omni-tool some more.

The recording played the first part with Nagato's voice again, but ended with a female voice saying, "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

Jiraiya's eyes widened when he heard that second voice, but he didn't say anything about it. Naruto was more concerned with the part about the Reapers than the owner of the voice who mentioned them.

"What's a Reaper?" he asked Hinata.

"According t-to the memory core, the R-Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race th-that existed 50,000 years ago. The Reapers h-hunted the ancient c-civilization that we obtained our technology from to t-total extinction, and then they vanished. A-At least, that's what the dorei b-believe," the blue-haired Hyuuga explained.

"That sounds a little far-fetched," Jiraiya commented, and Hinata looked down at the floor embarrassed.

"No, it's not," Naruto said, and not just out of a small desire to defend Hinata. "That vision on Haraiso Puraimu I got from the beacon—I think I understand it now. Those machines I saw slaughtering everyone must be the Reapers!"

"The d-dorei revere the Reapers as gods, the p-pinnacle of non-organic life. And they believe Nagato knows how t-to bring the Reapers back," Hinata added, feeling a little more confident now that she knew someone believed what she was saying about the Reapers.

"The Council's just gonna love this," Jiraiya muttered. Louder, he said, "But we have to tell them, I guess. And no matter what they think of the rest of the rest of this, that audio file proves Nagato's a traitor."

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's get back over there!" Naruto replied impatiently.

"Wait, Commander. What about Miss Hyuuga?" Kaiden asked him.

Naruto turned to the blue-haired girl. "Well, that's kind of up to her. What will you do now, Hinata?"

The shy girl looked at the floor again and fidgeted with her hands. "W-Well, C-Commander, if i-it's alright with y-you, I-I-I would like to c-come with you…"

Naruto nearly jumped at the chance and almost agreed right away—he really liked the thought of this pretty girl who was also an impressive fighter joining his team. But he couldn't help his curiosity. "Really? Why?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Hinata forced herself to answer, "B-Because N-Nagato is a d-danger to everyone, and I w-want to h-help you."

Naruto smiled at her happily. "Sounds good to me! I'll take all the help I can get, and you're a pretty kick-ass fighter."

"Th-Thank you," she mumbled while trying to hide her blush at his praise.

"Now that that's settled, let's get back to the Council," Jiraiya said as he led them out the door.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Once again, Naruto and his team, with the addition of Hinata, stood before the four Councilors. The Hyuuga girl tapped on her omni-tool to play the recording for the Council.

"Haraiso Puraimu was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit." said Nagato's voice.

And the unknown woman's voice added, "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

"You wanted proof, Councilors. There it is," Jiraiya smirked.

Udina shook his head. "This evidence is irrefutable, Captain. Nagato will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes."

"But who was the woman speaking with Nagato?" Danzo wondered.

Jiraiya sighed. "Well, I can't say for certain, Councilors, but she sounds like a soldier I once had under my command."

"Who was this soldier and when did she serve under you?" Homura questioned him.

"Her name was Konan. She and Nagato were once part of my crew at the same time. But when he was made a Spectre, she left the military. Apparently, she wanted to join him," Jiraiya explained as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He added, "She was a powerful biotic when I knew her, and as persuasive as she and Nagato used to be, I'm sure they have more than dorei followers now."

"I'm more interested in the Reapers. What do you know about them?" Koharu asked.

"Only what was extracted from the dorei's memory core," Jiraiya told her. "The Reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the galactic civilization that came before us. Then they vanished."

"The dorei believe the Reapers are gods, and Nagato is some kind of prophet to bring them back," Naruto put in.

"We think the Conduit is the key for their return," the captain continued. "Nagato's looking for it, and that's why he attacked Haraiso Puraimu."

Udina rubbed his chin. "Do we even know what this Conduit is?"

"Does it matter? Nagato's trying to find it to bring back the Reapers! That's bad enough," Naruto replied impatiently.

"Settle down, Commander, and listen to what you're saying," Danzo told him sternly. "Nagato wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? This has to be just a ruse. Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How have we not found any trace of their existence? If these machines were real, surely we would have found something."

"If they were around before us, who's to say they don't know how to hide from us?" Naruto retorted.

"And who's to say they exist at all without evidence?" Homura countered.

"I warned you before, and you didn't listen then either," the commander argued back.

Koharu stepped in. "This is different. You proved Nagato betrayed the Council. We all agree he's using the dorei to search for the Conduit, but we don't really know why."

"The Reapers are obviously just a myth, Commander. A convenient lie to cover Nagato's true purpose. A legend he is using to bend the dorei to his will," Udina stated as fact, which pissed Naruto off.

"Fifty-thousand years ago, the Reapers wiped out all galactic civilization. If Nagato finds the Conduit, it will happen again! I refuse to do nothing to stop him!" he shouted at them, his blue eyes fierce with determination. Hinata found herself staring at him in admiration and looked away blushing when she caught herself.

"Nagato is a rogue agent of the run for his life," Danzo shot back. "He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre now that we have stripped him of his position."

"But what are you going to do to bring him in?" Jiraiya asked seriously. "You can't exactly send a fleet after him, especially since he's out in the Traverse."

"No, indeed we cannot. A fleet can't track down one man, and besides, such a thing may trigger a war with the Terminus Systems," Homura concluded pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"But we can't just leave our colonies unprotected!" Udina argued.

"There is another solution. A way to stop Nagato that does not require fleets or armies," Koharu suggested calmly.

But Danzo was hesitant. "Is he ready for this, though?"

"He's ready," Jiraiya affirmed with a confident nod. "And this way, you don't have to send a fleet into the Traverse, and Nagato will be brought to justice. Everybody's happy."

Naruto, who had no idea what was going on, looked at his captain in confusion. The white-haired man just watched him out of the corner of his eye and smirked as the Councilors looked at each other and nodded before turning to their individual terminals and pressing a few keys.

"Commander Shepard, step forward," Koharu requested, and with one more glance at Jiraiya, Naruto hesitantly obeyed. As he did, many diplomats came out of their offices to watch the proceedings from the balconies. The old woman then continued. "It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel."

Naruto was shocked as were Sasuke, Sakura, and Kaiden—Naruto because he believed his chance was blown after Haraiso Puraimu, and the other three just because they didn't expect the commander to suddenly be made a Spectre right here and now even though they thought he'd made a good one. Hinata was surprised as well at the unexpected inauguration, but found herself happy for the commander. Naruto remained silent, and Homura spoke next.

"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file."

Jiraiya looked at his protégé and smiled proudly. Naruto just felt humbled.

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will," Udina said next.

"Spectres bear a great burden," stated Danzo gravely. "They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

"You are our newest Spectre, Commander. You have a lot to live up to from your predecessors," Koharu told him, though not unkindly.

Naruto bowed, feeling the weight of his new responsibility on his shoulders already. Finally, he found his voice, and managed to say, "I'm honored, Councilors."

Danzo nodded and gave the newest Spectre his first mission. "We're sending you into the Traverse after Nagato. He's a fugitive from justice, so you are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him."

"Any idea where I can find him?" Naruto asked.

"We'll contact you when and if we have any leads," Udina replied.

And Koharu said, "This meeting is adjourned," before she and the other Councilors left the room. The diplomats on the balconies returned to their offices as well.

Naruto turned back to his team and Jiraiya, and the white-haired captain shook the commander's hand while congratulating him. Then Kaiden, Sakura, and Hinata congratulated him as well, though Hinata's was barely more than a squeak, but Naruto heard her anyway. Still in a bit of shock, Naruto thanked them.

Sasuke decided to break him out of his stupor the best way he knew how. By pissing Naruto off.

"I can't believe they let a dobe like you become a Spectre," Sasuke said with a scowl. "I would be a much better choice for the job than you."

Irked by his friend's arrogant and mocking words, Naruto retorted, "Oh yeah, teme? Then why'd they pick me and not you?"

"Hmph. Maybe they just want to see how bad someone can fail as a Spectre," Sasuke shot back with a slight smirk.

"Shut up, teme! Just for that, I'm gonna be the best Spectre this galaxy's ever seen just to rub your face in it! Believe it!" Naruto shouted at his friend with the fires of determination burning in his blue eyes, no longer stunned at all by his new Spectre status.

_"Well, that didn't take much,"_ Sasuke thought. "Glad to hear it, dobe. And I'm coming with you just to make sure of it."

Naruto was taken aback. "What about your job here?"

Shrugging, the black-haired officer said, "I feel it's time for a career change. Besides, I don't like the idea of just sitting back while you're off trying to save the galaxy. A loser like you'd probably just get us all killed without me."

Naruto scoffed. "Teme."

"Baka."

"Jerk."

"Dobe."

"Ass—"

"Enough!" Jiraiya yelled as he struck both men on their heads with a fist. "We have more important things to discuss." He turned to the commander who was rubbing the sore spot on his scalp while frowning. "Naruto, you're going to need a ship, a crew, and supplies, so I'm going to go get everything set up. Meet me by the Konoha when you've taken care of any errands you have left here on the Citadel."

Naruto nodded to the captain, and the white-haired man left. The commander then turned to his team and said, "There's one last thing I need to do before we leave." He looked at his old friend. "Sasuke, I want to talk to that alien."

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, and Kaiden followed Sasuke through the halls of the Citadel Prison on their way to meet the non-human captive imprisoned within. C-Sec had been averse to letting them through, even after Naruto gave them the "Spectre authority" bit, but no one was going to outright try to stop him with his new status.

Sakura and Kaiden had tried, though. They had argued with the commander all the way over to C-Sec headquarters about why they thought meeting an alien in C-Sec custody was a bad idea. But Naruto just insisted that he had to do this, his main argument being, "How often does one get a chance to meet an alien? And now, no one can stop me."

Hinata, for her part, was in a mixture of curiosity and concern. The idea of meeting an alien fascinated her, but at the same time, she couldn't help but wonder if it was a good idea since she doubted the alien was in a good mood after being arrested and kept in prison. However, something about the commander made her feel like things would turn out all right and that she could trust him. So she kept silent and just followed his lead.

And Sasuke…well, he just didn't really care. He knew what Naruto was capable of, so he wasn't too concerned for his friend's safety, and he knew well of the blonde's knack for making things turn out in his favor whether he planned something ahead or not. He wasn't worried at all. Just intrigued. Not that he'd let anyone know that.

The group finally reached the alien's cell, but before Sasuke opened the door, Naruto insisted on going in alone. Of course, this was met with protest—verbally by Sakura and somewhat by Kaiden, and nonverbally from Sasuke and Hinata in the form of a scowl and wide concerned eyes respectively.

"I'll be fine, guys," Naruto attempted to reassure them. "I just don't want him thinking we're ganging up on him."

Reluctantly, they agreed, and Sasuke opened the door for Naruto. He shut it behind the commander as soon as the blonde was inside.

The alien, who had stood up from his cell bed as soon as he saw the door open, stared down at Naruto. Bravely, the commander stared right back up at him—a seven-foot tall, biped with a humanoid body shape except for the canine-like legs and feet. His hands resembled a human's apart from the claws instead of fingernails, and he had a canine muzzle full of sharp teeth, red slitted eyes like a cat's, and his entire body was covered with dark orange fur. He also had a long ears like a rabbit and a fox tail. His armor was just like Naruto's except that it was pitch black in color and didn't have the N7 logo or the armor stripe on the right arm.

Growling, the alien lowered his body into a defensive stance, and he snarled at Naruto. "What do you want, human?" he asked, practically spitting the word "human".

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

And that's it for Chapter 5! Hope you guys enjoyed it because this is the longest one I've written so far and I worked hard on it. Probably would've been easier and uploaded sooner had I not had internet problems and an extremely slow computer. Seriously, I'd say about half the work on this chapter was done on my phone. *sigh* But what can you do, right?

Oh, and I probably should've clarified this last chapter, but "taicho" means "captain". So Naruto calling Jiraiya "Ero-taicho" means "Pervy Captain". I'm pretty sure you all got this, but I thought I should clear that up just in case anyone was confused.

Please review if you like the story, and feel free to ask questions. Even if I don't answer you in a reply, you may just help me with writing the next chapter and making sure I don't forget anything. I'm thinking I may get a few about the Sharingan, which I will try to answer next chapter as well as why Sasuke started to act like a psycho. In short, he wasn't serious. I'll just tell you that right now.

So that's it for this chapter! Hope you enjoyed it! And let me know if you did!

I should go. ;)


	6. Meeting the Kitsune

Hello, my awesome readers! ^_^ Here's another chapter for you! But before the chapter, I want you all to know that I updated Chapter 5. There were some details I felt needed added in the alien's description. And now, here's my review responses.

**AXL999**: O.O Now _that_ is what I call a Mass Effect/Naruto threat! Is it odd that I'd kinda like to see that? Although maybe not directed at me... But that would be one of the coolest things I ever saw right before I died. :P Hahaha! I know what you mean, though. There's at least one story on this site that hasn't been updated for about a year and a half now, and it makes me sad cuz the story's really good. It's "The Colors of Life and Death" by songbird21 if anyone's curious (Part 2's the unfinished one. Part 1 is awesome, though, too). I understand her reasons for her long absence from her story, but I still wish she'd come back and write more. But anyway, thank you for liking my story so much, and I look forward to more creative Mass Effect/Naruto threats. I actually just thought of a hilarious one, but I'm gonna wait and see if anyone else comes up with it too. :)

**MYK-ON**: Thanks! And I know right? I've been getting impatient to put her into the story, so I'm really glad I finally got to her part.

**jedielfsorcerer**: You know, you're the only one to give me character suggestions so far, and I'd like to thank you for that. :) As you can see, I already picked Sakura for another part, and Kurama is fulfilling Wrex's large angry alien shoes. However, I did consider Sakura for Liara's part originally as well as Killer Bee for Wrex, but when I thought about how Liara's main job in ME1 is helping Shep sort out all the beacon info, I decided I needed someone who could do mind stuff like Liara. So that eliminated Sakura there. (Can you guess who it's going to be?) And I don't know if I'll put Killer Bee in the story at all. I'm considering it, but I can't read his rap-dialogue without face-palming...and when Naruto joins in, it's so much worse for me. Haha. If I can manage to write him without giving myself a concussion—and you all will have to forgive my lack of rapping skills—then I'll put him in. But most likely not until the ME2 sequel.

**p13600d**: Yup! Everyone's favorite fox is here! ^_^ And thank you so much! For the most part, I'm following the basic storyline of Mass Effect, but there will be changes here and there. Actually, they kind of have to be changed in places since the absence of aliens changes things quite a bit. In short, I'll just say I have a plan for the major events, and I'm wingin' it when it comes to the smaller details. Hope you keep liking what I come up with! :D

That's it for the reviews! Thank you to all of you who have reviewed, favorited, followed, or all of the above'd this story! And if you're liking the story, I would really appreciate your reviews. I don't care if it's something as small as telling me you thought something was funny, pointing out a mistake (just be nice please), or asking a question. I'm just always happy to hear from those entertained by my story. ^_^

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Mass Effect. If I did, I'd answer that age-old question, "Who would win in a fight: Harbinger or Madara?" Seriously, the massively overpowered enemy from Mass Effect versus the guy who has all the cheat codes in the Narutoverse, who apparently can indoctrinate so long as he has access to the moon. I'd like to see that fight. Except that it would go on and on and on and on and on…..

Ah, getting off track. Anyway, here's Chapter 6!

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Naruto blinked at the large fox-like alien before him. Sasuke had told him the alien could communicate with humans, but he wasn't expecting him to speak their language so...well.

The fox-alien growled at the blonde who still hadn't answered his question. "I said, what do you want, _human_?!"

Naruto jumped as he was pulled from his thoughts. "Oh, right! Sorry!" He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I was just surprised you can speak so good."

"I know your language well, human. But never mind that. You still haven't answered my question," the non-human pointed out in a low dangerous tone.

With his hand still behind his head, Naruto replied, "Ah, right. Sorry...What was it again?"

A vein bulged on the fox-alien's forehead. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" he roared and the force of the yell caused Naruto to cringe against the door.

"Naruto?! Are you okay?!" the commander heard Sasuke shout through the door.

"Yes! I'm fine! Don't come in here!" Naruto yelled back. Then to the fox-alien, he made a placating gesture with his hands and said, "Calm down, please. I just wanted to talk is all."

The fox-alien dropped his defensive stance and stood straight. "Talk? About what, human?"

"Well..." Naruto paused to think for a second. "What's your name?"

"Name? Why would an almighty human care about the name of a lowly creature such as myself?" the fox-alien sneered.

Naruto blinked. "'Almighty human'? What're you talking about?"

"Nothing. Just never mind and go away," the non-human answered curtly.

"No. I came here to talk to you. Now what is your name? Mine's Commander Naruto Shepard," the blonde persisted, taking a step forward and holding out his right hand.

The fox-alien looked the commander up and down, completely ignoring his outstretched hand, before replying, "I'm a kitsune. That's all you need to know for now, human."

Naruto sighed and withdrew his hand. "I'd really rather call you by your name instead of by your species. Just like I'd rather you not call me 'human' all the time."

"I don't like your kind, human. None of you are to be trusted. The fact that your security here saw fit to throw me in this cell just for being what I am proves that," the kitsune snarled.

"Yeah, I heard from my friend who let me in here that you weren't really doin' anything except indirectly causing a panic 'cause none of us have seen a non-human before," Naruto told him. "Did they even say why they put you in here?"

"No, they didn't."

"Do you know what they plan to do with you?"

"I'll most likely either be contained here or sent to one of your labs for study," the kitsune answered dispassionately.

Naruto's eyes widened at that. "How can you say that so casually? Do you really not care? Don't you want to be free?"

"Of course I do!" he snapped, his tail flicking side-to-side angrily. "But what would you have me do? Fight my way out? Much as I'd like to take out as many of your people as I could before I was killed, that would only lead to disaster for the rest of my own people when yours retaliated."

"What if I set you free?" Naruto asked sincerely.

Now it was the kitsune's turn to blink in surprise. "What?"

"What if I set you free?" Naruto repeated. "I could, ya know. I'm a Spectre, so I have the authority. I could even take you with me on my mission and keep the scientists and everyone else off you if you wanted."

The kitsune considered the offer for a moment before saying, "What's in it for you?"

Naruto shrugged. "Nothin' really. I'd appreciate your help on my mission, and if you'd refrain from killing any of my crew while you're on my ship. But that's really all I'd want from you."

"What is this mission you're on?"

"I'm searching for a guy named Nagato. He's a Spectre—well, he was. Now he's rogue, so I'm being sent to hunt him down," the commander explained.

"Yes...I know of this Nagato." The kitsune went silent for a moment. "How can I trust you to keep me safe from your labs and prisons?"

"I can't really give you anything other than my word," Naruto told him honestly. "But I never go back on my word, and I always do what I say. I promise to keep you safe from being captured and imprisoned or studied so long as I'm alive."

The kitsune stepped forward and bent down so his face was mere inches from Naruto's, and he looked into his eyes. Naruto unblinkingly stared back.

_"I sense no deception in him, and..." _he paused his mental assessment as he sniffed twice. _"His scent is somehow...familiar. Like mine, and yet still human. Curious..."_ The kitsune straightened back up, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes. _"Can I trust him? Do I have much of a choice? Hmm..." _He let out a growl.

The kitsune's red eyes snapped back open, and Naruto had to stop himself from jumping back at the sudden action. "How absolute is your authority to free me and take me with you?" the kitsune asked.

"Hmm...Well, the Council might not be too happy about it, actually. But if you were helping me with my mission, then I'd be within my rights as a Spectre to keep you in my crew," Naruto answered with a hand on his chin as he thought the situation out. "It might even be easier to convince them if I made some kind of deal with you."

"You mean like if I had information to trade in exchange for you taking me with you?"

"Yeah! Like that! You got anything?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Depends. Do we have a deal?" the kitsune held out his right hand.

Naruto took it and shook it eagerly. "Believe it!"

They released each other's hand, and the kitsune activated his omni-tool. "All right, here's my end of the deal."

Outside the prison cell, Naruto's team was getting antsy. Sasuke had had his Sharingan active ever since they heard the alien yell at Naruto so he could watch make sure that his friend was okay. Hinata likewise had her Byakugan active to keep an eye on things with the commander as well. Meanwhile, Kaiden and Sakura just had to content themselves with the fact that neither Sasuke nor Hinata seemed worried yet. But they were all surprised when they heard Naruto suddenly burst out laughing, and Sasuke and Hinata could see him rolling on the floor holding his sides. The team looked at each other in confusion.

Back inside the cell, Naruto managed to gain control over his laughter and stood up from the floor. Still chuckling, he said, "Oh man! I don't know which is more awesome. What you just showed me or the fact that you used that to bargain for your freedom! That is right up there with my skills as a prankster." He reached out and shook the kitsune's hand again. "Yup! You and me are gonna get along just fine!"

In spite of himself, the kitsune smiled ever so slightly. "Just make sure you uphold your end of the deal."

Naruto looked at him seriously. "Of course. But before we go, can you give me something better than 'kitsune' to call you?"

The kitsune hesitated before saying, "Fine. But not my real name. Something else..." He rubbed his chin with a clawed finger as he thought for a moment. "Kurama. That is what you may call me," he hesitated a second before adding, "Shepard."

"Why 'Kurama'?" Naruto asked, tilting his head to the side.

Kurama smirked. "Because of the legend for which your world is named."

"Legend? What legend?"

"You don't know your own world's legend?" the kitsune asked incredulously. He sighed. "Long story short, your people named your kind's homeworld after a giant fox creature who helped save them from a terrible calamity."

"Huh," the commander grunted with mild interest. But then he shrugged it off. "Well, whatever. Let's just go." And he turned and opened the cell door.

Naruto's team moved back as the commander came out, and they gasped in shock when the large fox-like alien followed him into the hallway. Gesturing for everyone to relax, Naruto introduced his newest crewmember to the rest of the team.

"Guys, this is Kurama—don't ask, that's what he wants to be called," Naruto said to his team. Then he turned to the alien next to him and pointed to each team member as he introduced them. "Kurama, these are my crewmembers and friends, Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyuuga, Sakura Haruno, and Kaiden Alenko."

Kurama just gave them a brief nod, and they returned the gesture while still looking at him in surprise. Surprise which turned to shock with Naruto's next statement.

"Guys, Kurama's coming with us on our mission."

"WHAT?!" they all asked as one.

Naruto rubbed his now-ringing ear. "Geez, guys. Quiet down."

"Commander, are you insane?!" Sakura asked the blonde incredulously. "We don't know anything about him! What if our medical supplies don't work on him? What if he can't eat what we eat? What if he eats humans?! What if—"

"What if he would prefer you not speak of him as if he were not here?" Kurama interrupted her. His tone was calm, but the look in his eyes was not.

"Yeah, Sakura, come on. Just 'cause he looks different than us doesn't mean his feelings are any different than ours, ya know," Naruto said gently.

Feeling ashamed, the pinkette looked down at the floor. "I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to offend you, Mr. Kurama."

The kitsune likewise felt uncomfortable with Naruto saying he had feelings like humans did and with the pink-haired human apologizing. Looking off to the side and away from the group, he muttered, "It's fine. Forget it." He cleared his throat and looked back at the humans. "To answer your questions, though, I will provide your ship's medic with the necessary biological information about my people—it's all on my omni-tool. As for what I eat," he cast a quick glance at Sakura and she flinched, "I can eat human food just fine. And your kind has no appeal to me; while I've never tasted human myself, our ancestors told us your kind tastes quite bad."

The five humans blanched. But the ever-observant Uchiha noticed something even stranger about the kitsune's statement.

"Wait. Your ancestors? You mean our kind has come across yours before?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kurama turned to the officer and blinked in surprise, which turned to confusion when he saw the blank expressions on the other humans as well. He was silent for a long moment before saying, "Hmm. When the commander here didn't react to me telling him I'm a kitsune, I thought it was merely because he was one of the many idiotic humans who are ignorant of their own history."

_"That's because he is,"_ Sasuke, Sakura, and Kaiden thought simultaneously.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted as he stamped his foot in indignation.

But Kurama ignored him and continued. "But it would seem the rest of you don't know of my people either."

"We know of the kitsune," Kaiden began. "But we were always told they were no more than animals that we trained to fight the Rachni. And once the Rachni were gone, the kitsune started to overrun the galaxy until we managed to put them down."

"'No more than animals?'" the kitsune repeated as his fists clenched in anger. "THAT'S what you were told?!"

Kurama was shaking with rage, and Naruto was trying—to no avail—to placate him. _"How dare they?! We save them from the Rachni, and they turn us into animals?! No more than pets they trained to fight for them?!" _he mentally roared as he contemplated doing many terrible things to the inhabitants on the Citadel. Before he could do anything rash, however, a timid, gentle hand suddenly landed on his arm. Instantly, anger was replaced with shock as the large kitsune looked down at the hand's owner. Right in her pale lavender eyes.

Hinata gazed back into his red, slitted eyes and gave him an apologetic look as she said, "M-Mr. Kurama, p-p-please don't be angry. W-We didn't know. Please, f-forgive our ignorance."

Naruto was impressed. _"She seems so shy and nervous. Didn't expect her to be the one to calm Kurama down."_

Feeling uncomfortable and a bit embarrassed under the Hyuuga's kind stare, Kurama looked away and pulled his arm from her touch. He let out a small cough and growled, "I...apologize...for my outburst." A moment of silence fell before he suddenly asked, "Do all humans really think this about my people?"

"U-Unfortunately, yes," Hinata answered while looking down at the floor. "It's w-what we were all taught about the Rachni Wars and K-Kitsune Rebellions."

"But why were we lied to?" Sakura asked. "I know it's been at least a thousand years since the end of the Rebellions, but if your ancestors told you about it, then obviously attaining sentience isn't a recent thing for your people. So why…?"

"Hmph," Kurama grunted as he crossed his arms. "I can't speak for your leaders' motives. They may not even know the truth. All I can say is, it would seem there are those in control of your people who have a...problem with non-humans."

"That's putting it mildly," Kaiden muttered dryly.

"Have we encountered other sapient aliens besides your kind?" Sasuke inquired.

The kitsune shrugged. "It's a big galaxy. I'd be surprised if you haven't. But the fact that you don't know of any supports my theory about someone with power having something against non-humans."

"What can you tell us about your people, though?" Naruto asked. "What really happened?"

The kitsune suddenly felt a chill, and he looked around suspiciously. Some instinct was telling him to speak the truth—at least not while standing in the Citadel. "Sorry, Shepard. I'd rather not talk about that now. Not while we're still here at the heart of your people's government. Once I'm safely aboard your ship—and I trust you a little more—then I'll tell you the whole story."

Nodding, Naruto said, "I guess that's understandable. And we probably should get going. I'll bet Captain Jiraiya's waiting for us already." He looked at his team. "Are you guys all okay with this? You're free to go if you feel like you can't work with our alien friend here."

The other four humans looked at each other and then glanced at Kurama, who was staring at them intently.

Sasuke shrugged. "I trust you, Naruto. If you think he'll work with us on this mission, then that's good enough for me."

"Me too," Kaiden said. "I've worked with you for awhile now, Commander. You may do some crazy things, but they always seem to work out for us."

Hinata looked at the kitsune and gave him a small, kind smile. "I-I'm fine with the idea as well. I-I know what it's like to...n-not have any place to go. And h-he seems trustworthy," she quickly added at the end.

Sakura nodded and had a determined look in her eyes. "I'm good with it too, Commander. And if what he says is right—that someone among our people has a problem with non-humans—then I say it's up to us to change that."

Kurama smirked as he looked at them with approval, and Naruto grinned at his team. "Alright! Glad to hear it. Now let's get back to the ship!" the blonde commander said excitedly as he started walking down the hall.

"Wait, Naruto!" Sasuke called after him.

Turning around, Naruto asked, "What?"

"Don't you think we should disguise our alien teammate before we leave?" the officer asked.

Naruto chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Uh, yeah. We probably should, huh?" He paused. "Anyone got any ideas?"

They all looked at each other and sweat-dropped, including Kurama; no one had any idea how to hide the kitsune's head and tail. Suddenly, though, Sakura had an idea as she looked over at Hinata.

"Miss Hyuuga?" Sakura said.

"Y-Yes, Chief Haruno?"

"May I borrow your cloak?" the pinkette asked politely.

"S-Sure, but w-why?" Hinata replied as she removed her lavender cloak.

As Sakura took the garment, she answered, "I think we can use this to hide Kurama's face." She approached the kitsune and said, "May I?" When he nodded his assent, the pink-haired woman threw the cloak around his neck and then folded his long ears down as she pulled up the hood. After that, she pulled the sides of the cloak around and draped them over Kurama's muzzle. "There." Sakura announced when she was done. "His head might still look a bit weird, but no one's first thought should be 'alien' when they see him."

"Except for his tail, legs, hands, and feet," Sasuke pointed out.

"Ah, yeah," Sakura smiled sheepishly. "Anyone else got any ideas?"

Now it was Hinata's turn to come up with a solution. She walked over to Kurama and reached out to grab his tail, but before touching him, she also asked, "M-May I?" Again, Kurama nodded, and Hinata took his long tail and wrapped it around his waist. It went around three times before she reached the end, which she tucked into the rest of the tail. "Th-There. N-Now it just looks l-like he has an orange belt."

"Alright! Good job, you two," Naruto praised his female teammates. Sakura beamed happily in response while Hinata blushed and smiled shyly. Then the commander turned to Kurama and asked, "You okay with this, Kurama?"

The kitsune shrugged in response. "Not really seeing that I have a choice, Shepard. But I'm comfortable enough until we reach your ship, if that's what you're asking."

"But there's still his hands, legs, and feet," Sasuke reiterated with a hint of annoyance.

Sakura thought for a moment. "He should be fine if he keeps his hands hidden under his arms. As for his legs and feet, most may not notice. People aren't usually _that _observant, and we're just crossing through C-Sec. Shouldn't cause too much of a problem."

Satisfied with that answer, Naruto turned back around and said as he started walking, "Okay then! Sounds good to me! Let's get out of here already!"

"Right!" came the unanimous reply as the team followed their commander out of the prison.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Finally, Naruto and his team were on the elevator on their way up to the docks where the Konoha waited. The trip through C-Sec headquarters from the prison to the elevator had been quite annoying in everyone's opinion. Almost immediately after coming out of the prison, the C-Sec officers had frantically descended on Naruto for releasing the alien without Council permission. To which Naruto had replied that as a Spectre, he had all the authority he needed and that if the Council didn't like it, they could take it up with him. The officers had relented a bit after that, but their reluctance was still evident, which they showed by being slow to get the kitsune's release forms filled out.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had taken the opportunity to talk to his boss while Naruto fought his battle with bureaucracy. The Uchiha had never gotten along with his boss, so his resignation was a simple matter of walking into the executor's office, saying "I quit," while throwing his badge at his boss—which hit him in the face—and walking out before the stunned man had a chance to argue.

On the elevator, Sasuke chuckled quietly at the memory of the executor's face, and Naruto glanced at his old friend with a raised eyebrow. He knew why his friend was amused, but was mildly surprised that Sasuke found it funny enough to laugh about it. The Uchiha rarely ever laughed.

"Was it really that funny?" Naruto inquired curiously.

"Oh man, you should've seen his face, Naruto," Sasuke replied with a rather large smirk on his face. "But maybe it was just really funny to me. I've been waiting to tell him 'I quit' for a long time now."

"You didn't like your job?" Sakura asked.

"No, it wasn't that. I liked working in C-Sec. I just hated my boss," Sasuke answered. "He never let anything slide, always got on me for being a little too rough on suspects, and refused to acknowledge that sometimes you have to bend the rules in order to get things done."

"How much is 'a little too rough'? And just how far did you 'bend' the rules?" Kaiden questioned suspiciously.

Sasuke looked the lieutenant up and down before replying, "Well, I didn't torture anyone if that's what you're implying."

"Really? Because after what you said to Fist—"

"Kaiden, that was just a joke," Naruto interrupted him. "Sasuke and I used to do that all the time when we had to interrogate someone. Whenever we thought someone was holding back, one of us would act crazy and beg the other to get to do something horrible to the person we were interrogating." He shrugged. "Works pretty well nine times out of ten."

"And when did you have to interrogate someone, Commander?" the lieutenant asked.

Sighing, Naruto ran a hand down his face. "Lieutenant, I don't really want to discuss my and Sasuke's personal lives here, but to answer your question, we used to work together in a gang, which we quit as soon as we turned eighteen, alright? It's not something we're proud of, but it's what we had to do to survive."

Feeling ashamed for second-guessing his superior, Kaiden said, "Sorry, Commander. I didn't mean to offend you."

"It's fine, Kaiden. Don't worry about it," Naruto smiled at him.

"And to answer your other question, Lieutenant," Sasuke began, "I didn't bend the rules whenever it suited me. I only meant that there are certain cases where it doesn't make sense to follow the rules down to the letter if it means the suspect gets further ahead of you. For example," he cleared his throat, "say you caught a guy red-handed murdering someone else. You arrest him, but he fights back and during the struggle, you don't get the chance to read him his rights. Do you think the man should just be let go because of this technicality, or do you think it should be overlooked so the man gets what he deserves and is locked up where he can't kill anyone else?"

"Honestly, I can't say what the right decision is there," Kaiden replied with a sigh. "All I know is, people who start cutting corners tend to cut more and more until they're just as bad as the people they claim they're trying to stop."

"Hmph," Kurama grunted. "You humans waste too much time on these questions of morality. A murderer among my people is handed over to his victim's family to deal with as they please."

"B-But what if he's innocent? W-What if it was s-self-defense?" Hinata asked.

"I never said we don't try to find out the truth," Kurama said with a shrug. "But all these technical things of 'reading a suspect his rights' and giving him a 'fair and speedy' trial is garbage we don't deal with. If we suspect someone of a crime, we keep him imprisoned as long as it takes to find out what really happened. And if it turns out he's innocent, then we let him go."

"But how do you keep those people from retaliating for being imprisoned for no reason?" Sakura inquired.

With another shrug, Kurama told her, "Those people are free to challenge either our leader or the arresting officer to a duel. But it's to the death, so only those who can't get past their anger ever take this option."

Naruto was confused at this as well as the other humans. "Why a fight? And what do they get if they win?"

"We're a very combative race, Shepard," the kitsune answered. "We settle some matters intellectually, but in matters such as pride—something being falsely accused would damage—we deal with by fighting. It works for us. As for the winner, they get the restoration of their honor."

The team stepped off the elevator and started walking over to where Jiraiya stood at the dock to the Konoha. "It doesn't seem very peaceful," Naruto commented to Kurama.

"Hmph. It's just as 'peaceful' as what you humans do. You're just more subtle about the way you all fight each other," the kitsune retorted.

Before anyone could respond to that, the group reached Jiraiya. The captain nodded to Naruto, then turned his attention to the large new addition to the team and raised an eyebrow.

"So, Naruto...who's your new friend here?" Jiraiya asked with a glance at the blonde commander.

"Hehehe..." Naruto chuckled nervously while scratching the back of his head. "Well, you see, Captain Jiraiya, this is...um..." He looked at his teammates helplessly, but none of them were willing to explain the kitsune situation either.

Except for Kurama. He just took a step toward Jiraiya, pulled the sides of Hinata's cloak off his muzzle, and gave the white-haired man a big toothy grin. "I'm a kitsune. Name's Kurama, and I'm coming along with Shepard on his mission."

Jiraiya took a step back, his eyes wide. He looked at the commander and nearly shouted, "Naruto, what in the—"

"It's okay, Captain!" Naruto said quickly while waving his hands in front of himself.

"Explain," Jiraiya demanded in a stern voice. He folded his arms and gave Naruto a hard stare.

Naruto sighed. "It's like this, Ero-taicho. Sasuke told us C-Sec arrested a non-human, I was curious, and so I used my new Spectre status to talk to him."

"Naruto, you shouldn't abuse your—"

"I'm not abusing my new power, Captain!" Naruto interrupted, feeling just a little offended that Jiraiya would even think that he was exploiting his Spectre status to do whatever he wanted. "I didn't go talk to him _just_ because I was curious. When Sasuke told us a non-human was arrested, he said the non-human wasn't even doing anything wrong at the time. The whole thing seemed fishy, so I wanted to see what was going on."

"Okay, Naruto," Jiraiya sighed. "I'm sorry for saying that. But how did it go from you just talking to him to bringing him on your mission?"

Naruto looked at the captain seriously. "Because once I found out that he was going to be kept locked up or sent off to a lab, I couldn't just leave him. And before you yell at me for being impulsive," Naruto said the last part quickly as Jiraiya had opened his mouth to do just that," I actually did think this one through. I made him a deal—the information he has on Nagato as well as his help stopping him in exchange for his freedom."

Nodding with a hand on his chin, Jiraiya said thoughtfully, "I suppose the Council couldn't make much argument against that. They did say 'any means necessary' after all." He turned to Kurama. "But what information do you have on Nagato? And is your name really Kurama?"

The kitsune waved a dismissive hand. "My name doesn't matter. As for the information..." He looked at Naruto, who snickered. "I'll let the commander tell you."

Still snickering, Naruto walked up to Jiraiya and whispered in his ear. The captain's eyes widened and he started laughing uproariously. He grabbed his sides as he doubled-over laughing, and Naruto just chuckled at his reaction.

"Hey! How come we don't get to know?" Sakura complained.

Jiraiya gained control over his laughter and wiped away a few tears as Naruto replied, "I'll tell you guys on the ship. It's funnier if you see the pictures as well."

"Speaking of the ship," Jiraiya cleared his throat and looked at the blonde seriously, "I'm stepping down as commanding officer of the Konoha. The ship is yours, Naruto. Take good care of her."

Naruto just stared at the captain. "Say what? Why? Why aren't you coming with us?"

"Naruto, you're a Spectre now. I may be your superior in the Alliance, but on this mission, you work for the Council and thus outrank me. But it's more than just a possible upset in the chain of command," Jiraiya told him. "This is your shot. I had mine, and now it's your turn. And while you're out there flying around the galaxy, I can gather information here...and do quite a bit of 'research' as well," he chuckled perversely at the last part.

"Ero-taicho!" Naruto shouted as he slapped his forehead.

"What does he mean by 'research'?" Sakura asked the commander.

Naruto blushed and glanced at the pinkette nervously. He had a feeling her reaction to the explanation would be a bit on the violent side. He coughed and said, "I'll tell you on the ship." Then he turned back to Jiraiya and sighed. "Okay, I guess. But it feels like I'm stealing the ship from you."

Jiraiya clapped a comforting hand on his protégé's shoulder. "Naruto," he said softly, "don't worry about it. You're not stealing anything from anyone. It's time for you to lead, and I've explained everything to the crew already. They'll be behind you every step of the way. You'll be fine."

"Thanks, Ero-taicho," Naruto smiled. "But there's something else I wanna know before we leave."

"Okay, shoot."

"What's the whole story behind you, Nagato, and Konan?"

Jiraiya grimaced and then let out a sigh. "Why do you want to know that?" He sighed again. "Alright, fine. It was several years ago, long before I met you, obviously. Nagato and Konan were two of the first soldiers I ever led. They originally came from Ame and joined the Alliance as part of some project or whatever that was to promote peace between our regions of space. That's their connection to Yahiko-they knew him and were friends with him back in Ame's military. Anyway," Jiraiya started to pace a little as he continued, "I grew kinda close to Nagato and Konan and taught them everything they knew to be considered for the Spectres."

"Wait. If what you taught them got them considered for the Spectres, then why weren't you considered as well?" Sasuke interrupted.

Jiraiya, who had stopped pacing when Sasuke started talking, looked at the black-haired former officer and then looked away to the Konoha. "I _was_ considered," he replied in a low voice. "The three of us were vying for the one opening that was being offered at the time, so the Council gave us a test to prove which one of us was more worthy of the position. We were sent on a mission to investigate and, if possible, capture a rogue scientist who was believed to be creating illegal AI technology for a known terrorist group. We found him on an uncharted world deep in the Traverse. He'd built a massive underground lab, and had plenty of men to protect it—the place was crawling with guards. Nagato, Konan, and I originally snuck into the facility as a team, but halfway in, they managed to slip away and went off on their own. Next thing I know, an alarm was tripped and I ended up fighting wave after wave of guards while trying to make my escape. When I finally made it out of there, Nagato, Konan, and the shuttle we landed in were nowhere to be found. I had to steal one of the shuttles at the lab to get offworld. Later, Nagato blamed me for setting off that alarm and claimed that he just barely managed to capture the scientist we were after." Jiraiya turned back to Naruto and the others. "Believe what you will, but I _know_ I didn't set off an alarm. And as much as I don't want to, I believe Nagato set it off and somehow directed the guards to my position on purpose in order to clear his path to the scientist. But without evidence, I just looked like a sore loser whining to the Council about how I lost my chance at being a Spectre, and in the end, Nagato was the one who completed the mission."

"That bastard!" Naruto growled as his fists balled up in anger.

The captain just smiled. "Don't bother getting mad about it, Naruto. Nagato has worse crimes to pay for than cheating me out of a job. But I do appreciate the fact that you believe my side of it."

"Of course I do! I know you own your mistakes, Ero-taicho, no matter how bad, and I know you wouldn't be careless enough to set off an alarm like that!" Naruto declared.

"Heh. Well, in a way I was careless. If I hadn't been, Nagato and Konan wouldn't have been able to ditch me like that," Jiraiya said with a bitter smile.

"Yeah, but who goes around expecting their comrades to betray them like that?" Naruto asked rhetorically. "Maybe it makes me naïve, but I'd prefer to trust the people on my team. If I have to constantly look over my shoulder to make sure they're doing their jobs, then I might as well do everything on my own—and that's not possible."

"True, true," Jiraiya agreed. "It's all in the past anyway. What's important now is you stopping Nagato from finding the Conduit. You should get going."

Naruto nodded. "Right. Take care, Ero-taicho," he said feeling a bit sad as he shook the big white-haired man's hand. Then he leaned closer to the captain and with a smirk, said in a low voice that only Jiraiya could hear, "And don't worry about Baa-chan. I'll make sure she's safe for you."

Eye twitching, Jiraiya slapped Naruto upside the head. "Idiot!" Then he coughed into his fist, and blushing, he glanced sidelong at the blonde and said, "Thanks." He regretted it when Naruto snickered, and smacked the blonde again. "Shut up for a minute, would ya? You still need to know where you should go." He cleared his throat, and Naruto became serious. "Udina sent me your first lead while I was waiting. There are two scientists you should find—I already gave the coordinates to Nara for their location. One of them is an expert on the ancient civilization, Dr. Shino Aburame, and the other is his assistant, Dr. Ino Yamanaka. They just might be able to provide us with an answer as to what the Conduit is or what the beacon was trying to tell you."

"Understood. We'll head out and look for them first. Thanks, Ero-taicho," Naruto saluted the captain. Then he turned to his team and shouted, "Alright, everyone! Let's go!" as he walked toward the ship.

Jiraiya watched them go, and as he looked after the blonde commander in the lead, his irritation slowly dissolved into happiness and pride. He suddenly found himself remembering the day Naruto came to be under his command.

*0*0*FLASHBACK*0*0*

"So...you're my newest crewmember. Commander Naruto Shepard, correct?" Jiraiya asked as he studied the young, blonde-haired, blue-eyed man before him."I heard what you did for Uzushio. Impressive work."

Naruto just scratched the back of his head while smiling in embarrassment. "Thanks, but it was no big deal. I was just doin' my job, ya know?"

"'Just doing your job'? Heh. I wish all my soldiers had your definition of 'just doing your job,' especially since I know you were on shore leave when that attack happened," Jiraiya replied.

"Yeah, but what was I supposed to do? Say, 'Sorry. I'd help, but I'm on vacation,'?"

Jiraiya smiled. "Can't argue with that. But it's still impressive nonetheless. You took command in a chaotic situation and led your troops to repel an attack by an enemy who had the advantage of surprise. No matter how you look at it, kid, that was above and beyond 'just doing your job.'"

Naruto shrugged while letting out a sigh. "I guess. But I prefer not to make a big deal about it."

_"Which makes it even more impressive—the kid didn't develop an ego from it," _Jiraiya thought to himself. "Understood," he said aloud to Naruto with a nod. Then he clapped the young man on the shoulder and gave him a big grin. "Welcome to the crew, Commander!"

Naruto returned the grin. "Thanks! Lookin' forward to our first mission, Captain!"

*0*0*END FLASHBACK*0*0*

As Naruto and his team entered the Konoha, Jiraiya chuckled quietly to himself. "Seems like more than just three years ago... I'm proud of you, Naruto," he said in a soft voice. Then he sweat-dropped. "Great. Now I feel old... Wait! I know! I'll do some 'research'! That always makes me feel better!" And with that declaration—and a pervy grin on his face—Jiraiya marched off toward the elevator, intending to head to the nearest hot spring on the Citadel.

Onboard the ship, Naruto called his entire crew to the meeting room. He wanted everyone to meet their alien crewmember all at once rather than just let the kitsune wander freely about the ship, scaring the crap out of everyone. Once everyone was assembled—from his teammates to the lowest, unnamed servicemen aboard the ship—Naruto cleared his throat to call their attention. Everyone fell silent and looked at him.

"Alright, now that you're all here, I got something to tell you. We have some new crewmembers, obviously, but there's one in particular that I need to introduce you all to," he announced and looked at Kurama. "Now, everyone, don't panic at what you're about to see. He won't harm any of you—he's perfectly safe." Nodding to the kitsune, Naruto said, "Kurama, you can take off the disguise now."

The kitsune nodded in return and started off by freeing his tail, which was starting to cramp, from his waist. There was a collective gasp from the crew as they saw what they thought was a furry, orange belt become a tail on the strange, rather large man standing next to their commander. It was then that they noticed his hands, feet, and legs as well, and their shock only grew as Kurama next removed Hinata's cloak from his head and returned it to its owner.

A tense silence fell over everyone as the members of the crew who hadn't met Kurama yet tried to process what they were seeing and as those who had seen him tried to judge what the others would do if they reacted badly. After a minute, Naruto cleared his throat again, and slowly, everyone tore their gaze from Kurama to look at the commander.

"Guys, I know this is a shock, but yes, he's a non-human. He's a kitsune, and believe it or not, his people aren't animals like we were taught. They're sapient just like us," Naruto explained.

The crew exploded.

"What?!"

"No way!"

"We've been lied to?!"

"Commander! What is the meaning of this?!" Navigator Pressly shouted over the others.

Naruto tried to answer him, but the crew refused to calm down. Finally, seeing the commander could use some help shutting his people up, Kurama roared, "SILENCE!"

His deep, booming voice had the desired effect: the entire crew instantly froze. The kitsune cleared his throat and spoke again in a calmer tone, "Thank you. Now if you will just stay quiet, the commander will explain."

"Thanks, Kurama," Naruto gave the non-human a small smile. Turning to the crew, he began, "Okay, so this is what happened..."

He told them about how when he and his team arrived at the Citadel, they had heard C-Sec arrested a non-human, and they had also heard the alien wasn't doing anything wrong at the time he was arrested. Naruto explained that as soon as he had become a Spectre, he decided to satisfy his curiosity and went to visit the alien prisoner. Finding out that the kitsune had been arrested just for not being human and that he would most likely either be kept imprisoned or sent off to a lab, Naruto had decided to help the alien out.

As Naruto reached that point of his explanation, many of the crew had visibly relaxed. Some were still wary, but most were looking at the kitsune with sympathy and understanding and even mild curiosity. When the commander then told them of the deal he made with Kurama—information in exchange for keeping the kitsune from imprisonment and study—and then showed them the information the kitsune had given him on Nagato, everyone burst out laughing.

"So that's the whole story," Naruto concluded as the laughter died down. "If any of you feel uncomfortable with having a non-human on the ship and feel like you can't work with him, you're free to leave—no questions asked. I would like you all to give him a chance, but I won't force anyone to stay. So if you wanna go, now's the time."

Members of the crew looked at each other, and some considered leaving, especially Navigator Pressly. He really wasn't comfortable with the thought that such a large alien would be roaming free on the ship, but at the same time, he didn't want to seem unreasonable or racist. So he kept silent and just decided to see how things would go, which was the conclusion the other reluctant crewmembers came to as well. Eventually, they all looked to their commander and nodded, telling him they were willing to stay.

"Alright then!" Naruto yelled cheerfully. "Now that that's settled, everyone back to your stations! We're taking off soon!"

"Aye, aye, Commander!" came the collective shout as well as salute before all the crewmembers filed out of the meeting room.

Kurama, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, and Kaiden were the last to leave the room, and they just stared at Naruto expectantly. The commander just looked back at them and asked, "What?"

"You told us you'd explain why you call Captain Jiraiya 'Ero-taicho' and what he means by 'research' once we were on the ship," Sakura explained.

Naruto blinked in surprise. "You guys are really that curious?" They all nodded, and the blonde commander sighed. "Alright, fine. But you really don't wanna know..." He grimaced. "It's because he's a total pervert. He writes dirty novels in his free time—the Icha Icha Paradise series to be exact—and his 'research' is basically him peeping on women at hot springs and swimming pools."

Hinata turned bright red and faced the floor, Sakura blushed as well and had a look of extremely restrained indignation, and Kaiden face-palmed in disgust. Sasuke just raised an eyebrow while Kurama shook his head and muttered something about humans being idiots.

"A-Are you serious?!" Sakura nearly screeched.

Shrugging, Naruto said, "No one's perfect, ya know. N-Not that I condone his behavior!" He added the last part quickly when he saw the spark of rage flash in Sakura's eyes. He cleared his throat nervously. "Alright, guys. You're all dismissed."

They left the room silently except for Sakura, who was grumbling about perverted old men. As soon as they were gone, Naruto turned to leave as well, but Shikamaru's voice over the intercom stopped him in his tracks.

"Commander, the Council would like to speak with you. Shall I patch them through?"

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

And that's it! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and are looking forward to the next one. And if you like the story, I would appreciate hearing from you. :)

Man, this chapter took a bit long to come out, huh? I had a bit of trouble figuring out how to write some things, and I know this is a dialogue-heavy chapter. So I'm sorry for those of you wanting more action. In my defense, this is a Mass Effect-type story, and you all know just how much talking there is in those games. With any luck, there'll be action in the next chapter.

Another reason this chapter's a bit later than usual is I got a bit distracted by Ultimate Ninja Storm 3. Never played it before, and then I took two days to beat it—well, the main story. I'm still doing extra bits. Fun game, though, for any of you who haven't played it. Or at least it was until I downloaded the Full Burst DLC... *sigh* I'll just say the fight against Kabuto makes me angry. Like 4-tails Naruto level angry. I don't know if Kabuto's just that overpowered or if I just suck at fighting with Itachi, but the whole fight blows. I still haven't beaten it. I can get up to the point that Itachi uses Izanami on Kabuto, and then the snake freak suddenly starts wiping the floor with me. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Kabuto defeated as soon as Itachi got him with the Izanami? What the crap's with the fight after using that then?! I just don't get it. I can do all 3 Mass Effect games on Insanity, but I can't beat a snake freak with an identity crisis? *sigh* I'm done with the game for awhile…

And I'm done ranting. Sorry 'bout all that. I just have problems with games that have these long fights with no saves or checkpoints after you clear a part. I don't mind losing a fight unless it means I have to redo A WHOLE BUNCH OF CRAP again. Sorry. I really am done ranting now.

Let me have your reviews, those of you who like the story! Whether you just want to tell me something you liked, something you want to ask a question about, respond to my rants, or whatever, I'd like to hear from you (so long as it isn't negative, please)!

I should go, ya know. ;)


	7. Explanations and The Next Mission

Hello, again! Reviews to answer, then the chapter!

**MYK-ON**: And I never get tired of hearing it! :) Thank you!

**p13600d**: Haha! I'm the Mistress of Cliffhangers? I like that name. I like it very much. You do realize you've created a monster by calling me that, right? Mwahahaha! Seriously, I can see why other authors use Cliffhanger no Jutsu so much—it's freakin' fun! :D What's interesting is I didn't think Chapter 6's was all that bad. You're gonna be downright tortured with what I do later on. :P I'll try not to leave a really bad cliffhanger without updating for longer than a week, though. I make no promises, but I will try to not be that mean. And yes, I will try to have fun with Kurama. I like the fuzzy fox monster. And Naruto just wouldn't be Naruto if he wasn't clueless. I've read fanfics that made him smarter, and while they were fun to read, clueless Naruto is best Naruto. ^_^

**Fenris-wolfprince**: Thank you so much! It makes me happy whenever someone likes what I'm doing here. Yes, you are correct in your assumption. I'm trying to work them in eventually, and if they don't show up in this story, they'll be in the sequel (which I can't wait to get to. ME2 is my favorite of the 3 games). Although, I don't know so much about the biju. The summon animals definitely—I want to have Gamabunta and Gamakichi around eventually—but the biju are a bit harder since I can't remember who's who most of the time. ^_^' I think Kurama, Gyuki, Son Goku, Shukaku, and Matatabi are the only ones I can remember without having to check. So I'll try, but I make no promises. And thanks for the suggestions for the Full Burst fight. I haven't tried it again since my rant, but I'll let you know if I ever get through it. For now, it's on my list of "Things to Do for if I Feel Like Bursting a Blood Vessel". Because seriously, the level of rage it gives me makes me surprised my head hasn't exploded all over the walls. Haha.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Mass Effect. If I did, Naruto's feelings for Hinata would be clearer. Seriously, all these NaruHina moments are subject to conjecture—we never get anything definitive as to how exactly Naruto is feeling. I would very much like to know what's going on in his brain—if anything, haha—before we get to the very ending and Kishi just suddenly pairs Naruto with someone. And if I owned Mass Effect, we'd have a 4th game by now, and it would either involve Shepard or some descendant of Shepard. Also, I'm not a scientist, so while I did my best to explain some things, I acknowledge that the explanations are not perfect.

On with Chapter 7!

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

"Yeah, patch 'em through, Shika," Naruto said while suppressing a groan. _"Man...guess they already found out I took Kurama."_

The holograms of the four Councilors appeared before Naruto, and none of them looked pleased. But Udina was the most vocal about it.

"Shepard! What is the meaning of this?! You took a non-human out of C-Sec custody?!" he shouted angrily.

"Yup," Naruto said simply as he crossed his arms.

Udina's hologram reflected the vein that popped out on his forehead. "Explain yourself, Shepard! By what authority did you do this?!"

With a raised eyebrow, the commander replied calmly, "By the power you granted me as a Spectre. You said I was to complete my mission by any means necessary. The kitsune's cooperation was necessary."

"He told you what he is?" Danzo asked with an odd tone in his voice.

"Yeah, he did. Among other things," Naruto answered as he narrowed his eyes at the Councilor, daring him to ask what else he had learned from the alien.

But Koharu jumped in before Danzo could ask more—she knew such questions would reveal too much to the commander. "Why was his cooperation necessary?"

"He has information on Nagato, but before he would share any of it with me, he made me agree to free him," Naruto explained. "I accepted and even told him I'd keep him safe from imprisonment if he came with me and helped me on my mission."

"And...what was this information exactly?" Homura hesitantly inquired.

Naruto had to summon all his willpower to keep his face deadpan as he replied, "That Nagato wears pink bunny-rabbit underwear."

Silence.

"W-W-What?" Udina choked out.

Naruto shrugged. "That's what he found out about Nagato."

"B-But how?" Homura asked, although he wasn't too sure he really wanted to know.

Shrugging again, Naruto told him, "He said it happened while he was on the run. He was on some remote planet when he ducked into a bar. Apparently, he managed to walk into the bathroom at just the right time to catch Nagato with his pants down. He said he thought it was hilarious that a human would wear underwear like that, so he got some pictures before he took off. I can show 'em to you if you want."

"No!" the four shouted.

"Ahem! That's quite all right, Commander," Koharu said quickly. Thankfully for her, her hologram didn't show the blush on her face.

"But _this_ is the information you made a deal with him for?" Danzo asked incredulously.

"Hey, I didn't know what his information was beforehand. For all I knew, he could've known Nagato's exact plans or greatest weakness. And well, a deal's a deal," Naruto replied. Then he added, "I'm keeping an eye on 'im, Councilors. There's no need to worry."

"Hmm. We'll see, Shepard. For now, though, we'll leave him in your care," Homura said as he ended the transmission.

"As if you had a choice," Naruto grumbled to the empty room.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Minutes after his conversation with the Council, Naruto was in his casual clothes again and headed for the cargo hold. There was a certain blue-haired woman he wanted to talk to as the ship made its way to their destination. Besides finding her attractive, Naruto also wanted to know more about the Hyuuga and their Byakugan as well as the dorei. And of course he wanted to know more about Hinata herself too.

_"She's so shy," _Naruto thought. _"Hope talking to her alone doesn't freak her out. I wonder why she's so nervous, though..."_

He found her in the engine room, tinkering on a console in front and to the left of the drive core. Engineer Adams was on the opposite side, and a few other random servicemen were scattered about the room. As Naruto got closer to Hinata, he noticed she had changed out of her armor into casual clothes as well—a white and lavender hoodie, blue capris pants, and blue sandals.

"Hey, Hinata!" Naruto greeted her cheerfully when he reached her.

The poor girl nearly jumped out of her skin. "H-H-Hello, C-Commander," she returned the greeting with a nervous smile as she turned around.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare ya." Then he frowned. "And you can call me 'Naruto' if you want, ya know."

"O-Okay, N-N-Naruto," she replied while fidgeting with her hands and staring at the floor. "S-So what c-can I do for y-you?"

"Oh, nothin' really. I just had a few questions," he said as he smiled at her.

Hinata quickly glanced at him. "O-Okay. L-Like what?"

"Well first, how're you settling in?"

"O-Oh, I'm doing fine. E-Engineer Adams is letting me w-work down here, and I f-feel somewhat useful," she answered with a small smile. She raised her head enough to look at Naruto while she spoke.

"That's good," Naruto nodded. "But ya know, you don't have to do anything. You'll be going on missions with me, so you don't have to do any extra work."

"I-It's okay, N-Naruto. I-I enjoy h-helping, and my p-people are good with engines."

"Really? I didn't know that. Can you tell me more about the Hyuuga?"

"S-Sure," came her hesitant reply. "W-What do you want to know?"

Naruto shrugged. "Well, you said you're people were good with engines, so I guess my first question is, why is that?"

Hinata sweat-dropped. _"He really isn't good at history..."_ But she gave him a gentle smile that made Naruto's heart skip a beat. "W-Well, when the d-dorei chased us into exile, w-we took refuge on a small planet at the edge of C-Council space. I-It's all the Council would allow us, s-since we violated the law against creating a-artificial intelligence. Our p-planet doesn't have many resources, s-so we have to compensate b-by scavenging the galaxy for the th-things our planet doesn't provide. W-We maintain a large f-fleet for this purpose, w-which is why we're so good with engines."

"Ah," Naruto said with a nod of understanding. "That makes sense. But didn't the whole dorei thing happen a long time ago? Why're you guys still being punished?"

"Y-Yes, our exile was nearly 300 years ago, b-but as far as the Council is concerned, our p-punishment is to c-continue until the dorei are destroyed," Hinata explained sadly.

"But that's not fair!" Naruto replied just barely managing to keep his voice down. "Everyone involved in the whole incident's gotta be dead by now, so you're all innocent and still being punished!"

Hinata nodded once, her face full of sadness. "Y-You're right, N-Naruto, but my people feel our honor is lost and the only way t-to get it back is by destroying the dorei and t-taking back our home."

"What happened with the dorei anyway? How did they drive you guys off?"

"W-Well, the dorei weren't created to be true AI," Hinata began. Her stutter was lessening now that she was starting to feel more comfortable talking to Naruto. "You see, they were made to network together—the more dorei there are, the smarter they are basically. Not like a hive-mind, though, as they don't share sensory data. It's more of that by linking together, they can share processes that free up space to allow more complex thought." Naruto nodded at this, even though he really didn't understand what she just told him, and Hinata continued. "Over time, this feature as well as the subtle upgrades we made to the dorei over time brought them to the level of a true AI. One day, a dorei started asking its Hyuuga overseer things like, 'Am I alive? What is my purpose? Does this unit have a soul?'"

"Why was that so bad?" Naruto asked.

"B-Because it showed the dorei were becoming self-aware, and that would make them our slaves instead of just machines," she explained. "And to avoid the inevitable rebellion, my people decided to shut the dorei down. Unfortunately, the dorei reacted against the plan before we knew it, and they chased us into exile."

"I can't say I really blame them," Naruto said in a low voice. "They fought for their survival."

To his surprise, Hinata nodded. "I agree. We c-could've coexisted with them instead, but my people feared the Council's reaction." She noticed his surprised look and asked, "W-What is it, N-Naruto?"

He shook his head and replied, "Sorry, Hinata. I just wasn't expecting you to agree with me. I thought you'd be mad for suggesting the dorei were even remotely justified in chasing your people off."

"Oh. Well, th-that's understandable. M-Most of my people don't think as I do," the blue-haired woman said sadly. "I j-just wish we could have l-lived together in peace."

"Hey, don't let it get you down. There's gotta be a solution to everything. Maybe we'll find it on this mission," Naruto smiled encouragingly.

Hinata blushed at his smile and could feel her heart race. "I h-hope so. Th-Thank you, N-Naruto."

"Of course! You're part of my crew now, Hinata, and I always help my crewmembers out." Naruto flashed a foxy grin and gave her a thumbs-up. Naruto's expression made Hinata let out a happy giggle even as her face reddened further, causing Naruto to blush slightly as well. He coughed awkwardly and hoping to change the subject, said, "So, Hinata...can you tell me about the Byakugan?"

"Huh? Oh, s-sure, N-Naruto." She cleared her throat and began to explain her race's unique ability. "Th-The Byakugan works through the use of cybernetics, which are i-implanted in Hyuuga children at a young age. O-Our eyes have also been genetically enhanced s-so that they adjust quickly and seamlessly to the cybernetic implants. The implants are d-dormant until we trigger them mentally, which is the mode kn-known as Byakugan. In this mode, we see organic and s-synthetic targets as colored highlights or holograms of either red or blue. T-Targets marked as 'friendly' are highlighted in blue, or if they're behind a wall but still within range, they appear as a blue hologram. The s-same is true for targets marked as 'enemies', except that their color is red. D-Does that make sense?"

"Hmm. Yeah, I think I got it. Basically, if you were to turn your Byakugan on now and look at me, I would have a blue highlight or outline around me, and if I went behind a wall, you'd see a blue hologram of me because I'm a friendly target," Naruto summarized. "But if a dorei or some mercenary trying to kill us was in here, then they'd show up as red."

"R-Right," Hinata smiled brightly at him, happy that he was understanding her, and her smile caused Naruto's heart to race again. "A-And that's not all the Byakugan does," Hinata continued. "It also h-has image enhancement capabilities, which allows us t-to see in the dark and to focus our vision to see finer details or anything far away. We can also see in almost 360 degrees with Byakugan activated."

Naruto blinked. "Wow. So, night vision, telescopic vision, and you can see nearly all the way around you? That's awesome, Hinata!" He grinned at her.

"Th-Thank you, N-Naruto," Hinata blushed. "O-Our vision capabilities are also useful in my people's fighting style—the Gentle Fist."

"Is that what you used against those two guys in the alley? I was meaning to ask you just what exactly you did to them."

"Y-Yes, I used the Gentle Fist on them. For biotics such as m-myself, it works by forcing dark energy into the enemy's body, which then destroys blood vessels and w-warps tissue. With the Byakugan, I c-can focus my attacks better to take down enemies quicker," Hinata explained.

"Ah. Sounds as deadly as it looks. But what if someone isn't a biotic?" Naruto asked.

"Th-They modify their omni-tools to hit the enemy with e-electricity with each strike," Hinata answered. "Although non-biotics a-are rare among my p-people."

"Huh. Pretty awesome, Hinata. Thanks for tellin' me about all that." Naruto smiled at her.

"N-No problem, N-Naruto. I-I'm glad I could answer your questions," she said as she shyly returned the smile.

Naruto nodded and then stretched. "Well, I'm gonna go grab a short nap before we reach our destination, so I'll let you get back to what you were doing." He turned to leave and said over his shoulder, "See ya later, Hinata!"

"R-Right. See you later, N-Naruto," she replied with a small wave before turning back to the console behind her.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

While Naruto was talking to Hinata in the engine room, Sakura decided to strike up a conversation with the Uchiha who was standing not too far away from her in the cargo hold. Sasuke, who was out of his armor and in his casual clothes—a blue T-shirt, black pants, and black shoes—was tapping away on the console next to the large land rover known as the M35 Mako when the pink-haired medic approached him.

"E-Excuse me, Officer Uchiha. Are you busy?" she asked, trying to suppress her building nervousness. Sasuke's intense attitude made him hard to talk to all on its own—the fact that she was attracted to him didn't help anything.

"I'm not an officer anymore, so just 'Sasuke' or 'Uchiha' is fine," he said as he looked up from the console. "And I guess I'm not busy. What do you need, Chief Haruno?"

The pinkette blushed a little and replied, "Please, call me 'Sakura'. And I was wondering if you would be willing to tell me about the Sharingan."

"Why?"

"W-Well, I-I've just always been curious about it ever since I heard of it. But since it's such a guarded secret, I could never find much information on it," Sakura answered as she tried to keep from fidgeting. "I-If you don't want to tell me, I understand. I just—"

"It's fine," Sasuke interrupted. "There're only two Sharingan users left anyway, so keeping it a secret doesn't really matter anymore." He paused, and Sakura couldn't help but sense a small bit of sadness in his otherwise emotionless voice. Taking a deep breath, the ex-C-Sec officer began to explain the Uchiha's special eye ability. "Well basically, a long time ago when the Hyuuga race first formed and development of the Byakugan began, a few Hyuuga branched off on their own, taking what was known about the Byakugan at the time with them. The Byakugan was only about halfway developed, so the Hyuuga who branched off to become the Uchiha developed the Sharingan off of that."

Sakura's eyes widened in fascination. "Interesting! I'd heard the Uchiha came from the Hyuuga, there was never any definitive proof."

"Yeah well, that's most likely because the Hyuuga don't like to admit that some of their people left and managed to take valuable research away in the process," Sasuke said with a smirk.

Sakura nodded. "Mm. They are known for their pride. Though from what we've seen from Hinata so far, she doesn't quite fit the stereotype."

_"Indeed. She's pretty much the opposite of what most Hyuuga are like. And Naruto seems quite taken with her..." _the Uchiha thought to himself with a small smile and a mental chuckle as he glanced at the engine room door where he'd seen his old friend go not long before Sakura started talking to him. Out loud, he just said, "Hn," in agreement to Sakura.

Getting back on track, the pinkette then asked, "So how does the Sharingan work?"

Sasuke rolled his shoulders to work out a kink in them. "Well, how much do you know about the Byakugan?"

"Oh, I know all about it," Sakura said with a wave of her hand. "The Hyuuga don't keep its abilities secret—just how they created it and implant it."

"Right. Well, the Sharingan is the same minus the seeing in almost 360 degrees. Instead, the perception capability is improved over the Byakugan. Unlike the Byakugan, the Sharingan can see things in slow motion and the user automatically memorizes an opponent's moves, which then allows the user to perceive patterns and predict movements and even copy an opponent's every move," Sasuke replied.

Sakura blinked in surprise. "And that's in addition to the normal Byakugan abilities?"

"Minus the 360 degree vision ability, yeah."

"Wow. Sounds like the Sharingan was an improvement over the original Byakugan," Sakura stated sincerely.

"Hn. The Hyuuga and the Uchiha have debated about which eye ability is better for a long time," Sasuke told her. "Well...until there were only two Uchiha left that is."

That caught Sakura's curiosity, but she was afraid of offending the dark-haired man. Nervously, she asked, "S-Sasuke? W-What really happened to the Uchiha? All the reports ever said was that someone k-killed them all, but what I've never understood is how? How does someone take down an entire race in a matter of days?"

Sasuke groaned inwardly. He didn't want to answer her question; in fact, he wanted to tell her she was being too nosy, but for some reason he felt compelled to answer her instead. Taking a deep breath, he said, "I was only eight-years-old at the time, so I don't know much. But, I do know it wasn't just one person. There's a group out there—called Akatsuki—and while I don't know what their goals or motives are, I do know they had a hand in the destruction of my people."

Sakura gasped, and Kurama, who was listening from the far-side of the room, perked up his ears at the mention of the shadow group Akatsuki. The kitsune narrowed his eyes and looked away, continuing to pretend not to listen.

"B-But why would they do that?" the pinkette asked, afraid of the knowledge that there was a group out there with the power to take down an entire race.

Sasuke sighed and crossed his arms. "I don't know. It's one of the things I intend to ask the man who led the attack. Right before I kill him."

"You know who it was?"

"Hn. My older brother. Itachi Uchiha."

Sakura gasped again. "Your older brother?! That's horrible! How could he—wait! Wasn't Itachi a Spectre?"

"Yeah, the youngest person ever to become one. Although he's obviously a rogue now," Sasuke replied.

"Why hasn't the Council sent another Spectre after him like Naruto's being sent after Nagato?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Not a day's gone by that I haven't asked myself that. The only logical thing I can come up with is that they don't want to provoke him. Nothing's really been heard of Itachi since he was officially named in the classified records as the destroyer of the Uchiha, so it may just be that they don't want to provoke him or the Akatsuki whom he's a part of into anything."

"I guess that makes sense," Sakura said quietly. Then after a pause, she asked, "Sasuke?"

"Yes?" the irritation was just barely noticeable in his voice. He usually didn't talk much at all, and he didn't feel much like talking anymore.

"I-I just wanted to ask one more thing if I may..."

"What is it?"

"Well, I was wondering...how did you meet Commander Shepard?" she asked.

At first, Sasuke was surprised by this question, but then that faded into feeling defensive. He considered Naruto as his little brother, and being the private person that he was, Sasuke didn't feel like sharing how he met the only person he was still close to. Also, part of him suspected that she was asking about Naruto in hopes that Sasuke would set her up with him. "Why do you want to know that? You have a crush on him or something?"

"What?! No! I-I was just curious!" Sakura protested.

"Why? If it's not because of him, then why would you want to know?"

"Well, because—"

"If you want to know more about him," he interrupted, "go ask him yourself."

Sakura let out an exasperated groan. Angrily, she said, "Oh for crying out loud! I was trying to get to know _you _better, not him!" She stalked off toward the elevator. "Forget it! I'm gonna go get something to eat. Later."

Sasuke just stared after the pink-haired woman as the elevator doors closed. He didn't even notice Naruto was there until the blonde's arm suddenly descended on his shoulders.

"Smooth, nii-san. Real smooth," Naruto teased with a large smirk on his face.

"Nii-san?" Sasuke asked, trying to avoid the subject. "You haven't called me that in a long time, _otouto_." He emphasized the last word in an attempt to taunt Naruto.

Withdrawing his arm, Naruto ignored the taunt and shrugged. "Haven't seen you in a long time. But I know I used it in the few emails we sent each other over the years."

"Hn. That's true." Sasuke replied.

"And I don't know about you, but I still consider you my big brother," Naruto said with his usual goofy grin.

Sasuke punched the blonde in the arm. "Dobe. Quit acting like a girl and getting all sappy."

Naruto let out a short laugh and said, "Speaking of girls, why'd you piss Sakura off, teme?"

"Hmph. It's not my fault she's too nosy," Sasuke retorted as he turned back to the console by the Mako.

"All she asked about was how you and I met. And it sounded to me like you were more mad about her possibly trying to get to know me better than her invading your privacy." Naruto raised an eyebrow at him.

"Feh! As if. I've just answered enough questions today and didn't want to answer another one. End of story," Sasuke replied through gritted teeth.

Naruto sighed. "Fine. Fine. Have it your way." He yawned. "I'm gonna go catch a nap before we reach Therum. Have fun tinkering with this stupid thing," he said as he jabbed a thumb in the Mako's direction before walking to the elevator. Sasuke made no response and just continued to type on the console.

As Naruto passed by the mess hall on the way to his quarters, he walked up behind Sakura, who was sitting at the table, and put a hand on her shoulder. When she looked up at him, he smiled at her.

"Hey, Sakura. Just wanted to say, don't let Sasuke's attitude get you down. I consider him my older brother, and I can tell you that while he might be stubborn and distant, he's a pretty good guy once you get past all that. You just gotta be patient and persistent," Naruto told her, and Sakura merely nodded, too surprised to say anything. "Okay, then. I'll see you later!" he said as he continued on to his quarters.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

A couple hours later, a well-rested commander emerged from his quarters as Shikamaru announced they were approaching Therum—the volcanic planet on which Dr. Aburame and Dr. Yamanaka were researching some ancient ruins. Naruto put on his armor and made his way to the CIC (Combat Information Center) where all his teammates were gathered next to the Galaxy Map.

"Okay, guys, the reports say there's dorei down there, so Hinata, since you're a Hyuuga, I would like you to come along," Naruto announced.

"Y-Yes, Commander," Hinata said as she moved to stand next to him.

Naruto smiled at her before continuing. "And the planet's environment is pretty bad, so I'd like my other teammate to be okay with that in case we need his help getting outta there. You up for it, Kurama?"

"Bring it on, Shepard," the kitsune replied as he also moved to stand next to the commander.

"Alright. You two suit-up and meet me in the cargo hold by the Mako," Naruto said to the two next to him. They nodded and went to do as he ordered, then Naruto turned to the remaining teammates. "The rest of you, get back to your stations."

Sakura and Kaiden saluted and left, but Sasuke didn't move. "Something wrong, nii-san?" Naruto asked him.

"You're taking the Hyuuga instead of me?"

"Yes, I am. Her people made the dorei and so she should be the best of all of us at fighting them," Naruto explained.

"You and I both know that's bull, dobe. The dorei haven't been out of their region of space in nearly 300 years—no one has any experience fighting them now that they've had all that time to upgrade. You just want to take her along because you're attracted to her," Sasuke accused.

"So what if I am, teme?" Naruto snapped. "I know I can be irresponsible, but not with my job. I know what I'm doing, and I stand by my decision. If you can't take my orders, why did you want to come along?" Before Sasuke could even attempt to answer, the commander turned around and started to walk off. Over his shoulder, he said one more thing to his old friend. "Sasuke, if I don't take you with me on a mission, you're still serving an important purpose: while I'm gone, you're in charge, and if I die, I want you to take care of the ship and crew. Got it?" And he left the room.

Sasuke's eyes went from staring at the door Naruto left through to staring at the floor. He felt ashamed of himself. _"I acted like a little kid who wasn't picked to play a game. And Naruto's a superior officer...as much I don't like to admit it, he's no longer my idiot kid brother who did all sorts of stupid crap when we were younger. Sure, he's still an idiot, but he must know what he's doing since they made him a Spectre..."_

Moving quickly, Sasuke managed to catch up with Naruto before the elevator door closed. As he rode down to the cargo hold with the commander, he cleared his throat and said, "Naruto, I...I'm sorry."

Naruto's eyebrows shot up. _"Sasuke apologizing?! The galaxy really MUST be coming to an end!"_ Shaking his head to clear it of such thoughts, Naruto replied hesitantly, "I-It's okay, Sasuke." He really wasn't sure how to handle his old friend's apology. The Uchiha rarely _ever_ apologized—if he did, it was only when he had done something very bad. The last one Naruto could remember was when the two of them were seventeen and Sasuke had accidently shot Naruto in the foot while they were on a mission for their gang.

"No, it's not. I questioned your orders and accused you of making a decision for the wrong reasons," Sasuke told him.

"Yeah, but I think I get why you did it," Naruto said as the reason he was thinking of suddenly occurred to him. It was the same reason that would explain Sasuke actually apologizing where normally he would've just let the issue slide by without another word. The Uchiha's only response was to raise an eyebrow in question. "You and I hung out all the time when we were kids, and in that gang, we did all our missions together. Now that we're working together again, you were probably hoping to go at least on the first mission together, and then I kinda let you down there."

Sasuke just looked off to the side with a thoughtful expression. "Well, whether or not that's true—and I'm not saying it is—it still was no excuse for me to act like a kid who didn't get picked for a game."

"Well, how 'bout this then: I accept your apology, you watch the ship while I'm gone, and I promise to take you on the next mission. Sound good, nii-san?" Naruto asked with a grin as he held out his hand.

Sasuke smirked as he shook his hand and replied, "Sounds good, otouto."

The elevator door opened and Naruto stepped out. "See you when I get back," he said with a smile over his shoulder. "And take good care of the ship!"

"Hn. You just be sure not to wreck the Mako too much. Some of us don't enjoy repairing it from a scrap heap," Sasuke half-joked.

"Yeah, yeah. I make no promises when it comes to this piece of crap," Naruto replied as he climbed into said piece of crap behind his teammates.

Sasuke allowed himself a small chuckle as he pressed the elevator to go back up to the mess hall.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

The Konoha swooped low over the planet and dropped the Mako out of the cargo hold at the lowest point of the dive. The Mako fell to the planet's surface, slowing to a safe speed by using its thrusters, as the Konoha left the atmosphere to orbit the planet for the duration of the mission. Landing with a bounce, the Mako touched down on the volcanic surface of Therum.

"So glad this stupid thing has motion dampeners," Naruto muttered to his team as he started driving on the path around the lava pits toward the dig site. "Otherwise, it'd suck more than it already does."

Hinata giggled slightly at Naruto's grumpy expression, and Kurama just mentally agreed with him as he tried to adjust his large frame to be more comfortable in the small space.

"Uh, Commander?" Shikamaru's voice came over the radio. "We got some strange readings coming from the dig site. Troublesome...they're really off the charts."

"Huh. Well, guess we'll see what's up when we get there," Naruto told the pilot.

A few minutes passed in silence as the Mako bounced down the path. Then Kurama broke the silence.

"You know...motion dampeners or not, this vehicle moves too much," he said. Naruto and Hinata glanced at him. The big kitsune was in the back seat behind them, and they could almost see him turning green beneath his orange fur.

Naruto winced a little in fear. "Oh please don't get carsick, Kurama," he begged, not wanting to see what a kitsune throwing up would be like. "I'm driving this thing as smoothly as I can."

"A-Are you okay? Is-Is there anything we can do to help?" Hinata asked, looking at Kurama with concerned eyes.

The kitsune was suddenly more uncomfortable with the way the shy human was looking at him than the bouncing of the vehicle. Averting his gaze, he grumbled, "I'll be fine. I'd sooner shoot myself than let this machine get the best of me."

Hinata gave him a gentle smile and a nod before she turned back around. Naruto glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes. _"Shy, quiet, and yet she talks to Kurama like he's just another human. The fact that he's an alien—and the first one any of us has ever seen—doesn't seem to bother her at all... Man, I really want to get to know her better."_ He thought with a barely noticeable blush on his face.

More silence passed as the Mako rounded a bend in the path, and halfway to the next turn, a large ship flew low overhead and stopped a ways up the path. Several dorei fell from it, and the ship took off.

"It's a dropship!" Hinata said anxiously.

"Alright! Time to use the only fun thing on this piece of crap!" Naruto shouted with a feral grin. "Kurama! You take the guns!"

"Right!" the kitsune yelled excitedly as he grabbed the guns' controls. Naruto and Hinata watched with a mixture of fear and amazement as Kurama mowed down one dorei after another with the machine guns and the cannon. He seemed to especially enjoy taking down the dorei Armature, chuckling to himself as he blew the large machine into the nearby lake of lava.

When the path was clear, Naruto just cleared his throat and said, "Good work, Kurama."

"Anytime, Shepard," he replied with a toothy grin and a happy flick of his tail.

As the commander started driving down the path again, he glanced at the blue-haired woman next to him and said, "Hey, Hinata. I've been wondering something."

"Y-Yes, N-Naruto? What is it?"

"Well, it's about the dorei. How come the normal Troopers look like humans that are made of metal, but the others like the Drones and Armatures look like flashlight-head things?"

"Oh, that is b-because that is how they were originally designed," Hinata explained. "You s-see, all of the dorei were originally created to do manual labor, m-most of which was too dangerous for any organic. Tasks such as working in mines, l-large construction work, or even exploring planets with environments too h-hostile for organics even in environmental suits were left to our synthetic servants. But when we st-started using them as personal servants in our homes—specifically the models that became Troopers—it w-was decided that making them look more human would make many people feel more c-comfortable having them work in their homes."

"So it's an aesthetic thing then," Kurama stated.

"P-Pretty much. Yes," Hinata nodded.

"Huh. Well, at least that explains it. Though I can't say which is weirder: the ones that look like metallic humans, or the ones with the flashlight heads," Naruto commented.

"Mm," Hinata hummed in agreement.

The Mako made its way down the path with Kurama gleefully blasting away any dorei that happened to show up and distracted from his motion sickness in the process, and eventually, the team came to a point in the path where they could see a large closed gate guarded by two large automated turrets. Fortunately, the path forked to the right, and Naruto opted for that route rather than fight a pointless and time-consuming battle with the turrets.

However, the team still found themselves fighting a large group of dorei and one turret as the side path led to an open area. The big fox-alien seemed almost giddy as he tore through the synthetics. The turret exploded, Troopers and Destroyers went flying, and Kurama actually shot off the legs of an Armature one at a time before blasting its flashlight head off with the cannon. Casting a worried glance at the kitsune, Naruto wondered if he should take over the guns for awhile.

When all the dorei were destroyed, the team climbed out of the Mako. There was another closed gate blocking them, and with no alternate path this time, they had to find a way to open it. As they made their way toward the building next to the gate, Naruto asked, "You okay, Kurama?"

"Never better, Shepard. I've been itching for some target practice for awhile, and these dorei have been perfect little targets," the kitsune answered cheerfully.

Naruto glanced at Hinata, and she just shrugged. "Well, as long as you're okay and it's just them you're killing, then I guess it's fine."

Kurama chuckled dryly. "Don't worry, Shepard. Killing you or any of your crew violates our agreement, so you and yours are safe."

Somehow, that didn't make Naruto feel much better, but he nodded anyway.

The team opened the gate in no time, only having to kill one dorei guarding the switch, and soon enough they were making their way down the path again. This time, the path alternated between the volcanic ground and metal tunnels with white lights along the sides that were part of the ancient ruins uncovered at the dig site. Soon enough, the team came to a point too narrow for the Mako to drive through. And as much as he loved using the cannon, Kurama couldn't be happier to be out of the bouncy rover.

"Looks like we're going on foot, guys," Naruto said as he climbed out of the vehicle and drew his assault rifle. "Keep your guard up."

Hinata drew her sniper rifle and Kurama grabbed his assault rifle, and the two of them followed behind the commander. As they made their way up the hill, Naruto looked over his shoulder briefly and did a double take at Hinata's gun.

"Hinata, when did you start carrying a sniper rifle?" he asked.

"I-I always c-carry one, but w-when I was sh-shot by Nagato's men after I arrived on the C-Citadel, I dropped it. It was l-lost as I made my escape." She held up her new gun for a second and added, "Chief Haruno g-gave me this one from the Konoha's armory."

"What happened to the scope?" Kurama asked when he noticed the absence of one on the gun.

"I t-took it off," Hinata told him. "I don't really n-need one with my Byakugan. Actually, a scope interferes with m-my aim because of that."

"Makes sense," Naruto said as he pressed his back against a rock for cover. "Speaking of your Byakugan, Hinata, are there any more enemies ahead?"

The veins around the bluenette's eyes distended as she activated her eye ability. After a second, she nodded. "Y-Yes, several. I'll t-try to take out as many as I can f-from here." She took aim and managed to assassinate quite a few before the dorei could get close enough to their position to retaliate. However, Hinata was still trying to take out a few more instead of moving back into cover, and the dorei wasted no time tearing through her shields.

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted as he grabbed her and pulled her behind the rock. He held her close with one arm as he shot around the rock with his gun in the other. Meanwhile, Kurama gathered dark energy—which Naruto noted with surprise was red in color instead of the usual dark purple when humans control it—around a large boulder, lifted it, and used it to crush three dorei before mowing down the rest with his assault rifle.

When all hostiles were down, Hinata's face took on a brilliant shade of red as Naruto's arm was still around her, holding her close to him. But Naruto was obliviously unaware as he scanned the path ahead for more enemies. _"What do I do?" _Hinata screamed in her head. _"I should say something...but I really like him holding me! But I just met him...but he's so nice and handsome! But this really isn't the time or place...but—"_

Her mental argument was interrupted when Kurama walked up to her and Naruto and raised a foxy eyebrow. "Uh, Shepard? The way's clear, so are we going to continue or are you going to stay here and hold your mate?"

"My wha—Ahh!" Naruto jumped away from Hinata as if she were on fire. "H-Hinata! I am so sorry! I-I didn't mean anything by it! Believe it!"

Hinata, who was struggling to keep from fainting, managed to say, "I-I-I-It's ok-k-kay, N-N-Naruto. I-It's m-my fault f-for not g-getting into c-cover s-sooner."

"No, no! Don't blame yourself! I should've let go sooner! I just...forgot I was holding you..." He coughed and said quickly, "Anyway, c'mon, guys. Let's get moving!" And without a backward look, the commander marched off up the hill. Hinata meekly followed him, and Kurama held a hand over his muzzle to keep himself from laughing as walked after them.

Further up the hill, Hinata had recovered enough to snipe a couple of dorei that had taken positions in the towers that were next to the path. Meanwhile, Naruto and Kurama mowed down the closer-range targets along the way. As they came to the top of the hill, the team passed under a metal bridge that was suspended above across the end of the path before the path opened up into a wider area. Naruto was about to step out into the area when Hinata grabbed his arm and quickly pulled him back.

"Naruto, wait!"

Stopping in surprise—half from the urgency in her voice and half from the fact that she said his name without stuttering—Naruto looked back at her and asked, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"There's s-something around the c-corner. Something big," she told him with a small bit of fear in her voice.

"Can you tell what it is exactly?" Naruto asked.

Hinata studied the thing's hologram a bit more with her enhanced eyes before saying, "J-Judging by its size and shape, it's most likely an A-Armature."

"We're going to be fighting an Armature on foot? Now that's my kind of fight!" Kurama declared with a feral grin.

The two humans, however, didn't quite share his enthusiasm. Hinata was worried, bordering on terrified, and Naruto was concerned and trying to figure out the best strategy to fight with. Peeking around the corner of the cliffside they were standing next to, the commander observed the battleground.

"Hmm. There's a large crate out in the center there that I think we can take cover behind. Hinata, are there any other enemies in the area?" he looked back at her.

"Y-Yes, a few..." she paused to count them. "F-Five other targets n-not including the Armature."

"Thanks, Hinata. Okay, so here's what we do. Once we make a run for the crate, we'll take out the small fry before we take on the big monster. When we attack the Armature, I want you, Hinata, to stay behind the crate and use your rifle and omni-tool to attack it while Kurama and I rush at it from different directions. It can only target one of us at a time, and this way the other two will have an opening," Naruto outlined his plan.

"Sounds good, Shepard," Kurama said, not caring at all about the risk the plan posed to him and Naruto.

Hinata, however, was even more worried now. "B-But what if the Armature gets you or Kurama?" she asked fearfully.

"Hey, don't worry, Hinata! Kurama looks pretty tough. I'm sure he can take a hit, right big guy?"

"Heh. As if one of those oversized tin cans could touch me," he smirked.

"And I'm not about to die here, so we'll be fine. Just do your best and stay in cover, alright?" Naruto said with a reassuring grin.

"O-Okay. J-Just be careful, b-both of you," Hinata replied as she tightened the grip on her gun.

Naruto nodded. "Alright! Let's move!"

The three of them sprinted for the crate, and the dorei reacted immediately, firing away at the team while moving in closer. Naruto, Hinata, and Kurama just barely managed to dive behind the crate as a large blast of electricity from the Armature blazed past them. Following the blast, two dorei Troopers moved in, coming around the crate on either side of the team, flanking them. Kurama took out the one on his side by crushing its head with his large clawed hand, and on the other side, Naruto planted the business end of his shotgun into the dorei's face, tearing it in half with one shot.

Just then, a new type of dorei known as the Stalker, which looked like a more flexible Trooper and could hang from walls and ceilings, jumped to the cliffside that faced the back of the crate where it could see the team. It took aim at Naruto and sniped him, ripping through his kinetic barriers and injuring him.

"AAAGH!" the commander screamed as he clutched his bleeding arm.

Hinata gasped, but quickly took aim at the dorei on the wall and shot its head off. Then she went to Naruto's side to look at his injury.

"Naruto! Are you okay? I'm so sorry I didn't see it in time!" she asked as she took a closer look with her enhanced eyes at his wound.

She could see it already healing as Naruto said, "Yeah, I'm fine, Hinata. Don't worry about it." He turned and took out another dorei that was attempting the same flanking tactic as the one before. On Kurama's side, he was finishing off the last dorei before the Armature.

"Okay, it's just the big monster left!" Naruto shouted over the loud boom caused by another electric blast hitting the crate. "You guys ready?"

"Hai!" the other two yelled.

"Then let's go, Kurama! Hinata! Watch our backs!"

The blonde commander rushed out on his side while Kurama mirrored his action on the other, and the two dashed toward the Armature as they fired away constantly with their assault rifles to wear down its shields. The large, four-legged machine aimed a blast at Kurama, and the fox alien rolled to the side and biotically lifted a boulder and threw it at the Armature as he came back up on his feet. Meanwhile, Hinata was using Overload on the enemy's shields with her omni-tool and sniping its weak points that she could see with her Byakugan.

Naruto moved in really close to make the large machine's shields less effective as close range gave the kinetic barriers less time to react. However, this brought him close to the Armature's feet, which it took advantage of by trying to stomp him. As Naruto dodged the machine's feet, Kurama lifted a particularly large boulder with dark energy and threw it with all his might at the thing's head. The force of the boulder caused the Armature to fall to the side, and Naruto barely got out of the way in time.

"Geez, Kurama!" Naruto yelled as he walked over to the alien. "You could warn me first!"

"Sorry, Shepard," the big fox shrugged nonchalantly. "I knew you'd get out of the way in time."

"Guys!" Hinata called as she saw the Armature move.

"Still, man, you could say 'Hey! I'm about to chuck this thing! You might wanna move!'" Naruto continued to complain.

Kurama let out a small chuckle. "And miss the look on your face as you try to get out of the way?"

"Guys!" Hinata tried to get their attention again as the Armature was now getting to its feet.

"You know, I enjoy a joke as much as the next guy—if not more—but that nearly got me killed!" Naruto shouted angrily. "It makes it a little hard to trust you, ya know!"

Kurama frowned as all the humor for the situation left him. "Hey now, I seriously didn't mean to almost get you killed. I knew you—"

"GUYS! LOOK OUT!" Hinata screamed.

Kurama and Naruto looked at her by the crate and then to where she was pointing behind them. Turning slowly, the two looked up and froze as they saw the Armature standing there looking down on them and charging up another electric blast.

Time seemed to slow down as it fired. As the blast rushed through the air toward them, Kurama reacted faster than Naruto, and he used his biotics to throw the commander back toward Hinata's position. Naruto landed on his back hard just as the blast struck Kurama.

Naruto sat up quickly, gasping to drag back in the air that was knocked out of him, and he watched in horror as the dust cleared. He saw Kurama lying on his back in a crater. The kitsune wasn't moving.

"No..." Naruto said quietly as fear gripped his heart. _"I failed to protect another teammate...and he saved me! After what I said to him, he saved me! I...This can't be happening! I promised to protect him and...!"_ he thought as his fear turned to rage. "AAAHHHHH!" he screamed as his eyes turned red and slitted like Kurama's, his whisker-marks became more defined, and the dark energy that was gathering around him turned from its normal purple to red. Hinata could only look on in shock at her commander's transformation.

Naruto turned toward the Armature, which stood there observing the small organic that was radiating an unusually large amount of biotic power. Naruto screamed as he rushed toward the large machine.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

Cliffhanger no Jutsu! Hahahaha! But don't worry; I'll do my best to update soon!

Hope my explanations for Byakugan and Sharingan made sense. If it helps, think of how Hunter Mode looks in Mass Effect Multiplayer (except without that irritating crap that appears at the sides of the screen). If you haven't played Multiplayer or you just never tried out Hunter Mode, then I suggest going to YouTube or at least doing an image search. I think that might help show what I was trying to describe if anyone's having a hard time picturing it. And I realize the Byakugan seeing in 360 degrees is stretching things a bit, but I didn't want to remove that ability since it's pretty much a big part of what the Byakugan is. I am trying to keep this as hard science-fiction, but I'm afraid this is going to be one thing I'm gonna have to ask you all to just go with please. But, if anyone can provide me with a good scientific explanation, I will update the chapter with your explanation and credit you for it. Note, though, that x-ray vision will not work. Not unless all Hyuuga have lead-lined skulls. X-rays are radiation, which is not good for the body and why you can get only so many x-rays at a time. If they were to come from a person's eyes...well...yeah, that's just a _little_ too close to the brain for repeated exposure.

So if you've got a scientific brain—or you just love research that much (cuz I don't)—give me a better explanation than what I came up with. You'll get credit and a thousand cookies. Or cheese if you prefer.

CHEESE! FOR EVERYONE!

Scratch that. Cheese for no one. Which if you don't like cheese can be just as good. (A sugary treat of your choice to anyone who caught that reference). ;)

Seriously, though, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and that you guys can at least live with the explanations I came up with if no one gives me better ones. And let me know if you're liking the story! Encouraging reviews make a happy kitsunescythe, and a happy kitsunescythe writes faster!

I should go. Believe it!


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